Tower Resources has signed a production sharing contract (PSC) on the shallow water Thali offshore Cameroon.
The company said the market downturn had provided an opportunity for the company to leverage “lower seismic and drilling costs”.
A signing ceremony took place at the offices of the Societe Nationale des Hydrocarbures in the country.
Tower Resources now has a 100% interest in the Thali PSC which includes three exploration phases.
Chief executive Graeme Thomson said: “We are delighted to be awarded the Thali PSC and look forward to working closely with SNH as we develop the prospectivity of this exciting acreage.
“Our entry into Cameroon marks a shift in our risk profile from frontier to proven basins and introduces an asset with existing discoveries into the Tower portfolio.
“The Thali Block provides Tower with lower risk exploration and appraisal potential in this shallow-water proven-producing region and provides a base from which the Company can expand its portfolio in Cameroon.”
The Thali PSC covers an area of 119.2 km², with water depths ranging from 8 to 48 metres, and lies in the prolific Rio del Rey basin, in the eastern part of the Niger Delta.
The Rio del Rey basin has, to date, produced over one billion barrels of oil and has estimated remaining reserves of 1.2 billion boe, primarily within depths of less than 2,000 metres.
Tower’s initial priority will be the acquisition of 3D seismic in the first half of 2016.
The seismic will be used to update the existing 24 year old data set to allow better resolution of shallow plays as well as imaging of deeper sections.
The company expects drilling to begin either in 2017 or 2018.