The Africa-focused oil and gas exploration, development and production company, is pleased to announce that pursuant to a letter dated 4 September 2019, the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Ministry of Petroleum Resources has approved the extension of OPL 310’s exploration license for three(3) years, subject to the holders of the licence paying an extension fee of US$7.5m within 90 days effective from 2 August 2019. The Company expects to fund 100 per cent of the licence fee from a mix of existing financial resources and a Potential Funding Partner as previously announced on 30 August 2019. Both Optimum Petroleum Development Company and LEKOIL Nigeria Limited (acting through its wholly owned subsidiary, Mayfair Assets and Trust Limited) have agreed to progress the appraisal of the Block and subsequent conversion to an Oil Mining License at the end of the exploration period, as soon as practicable. Following a successful appraisal, a full field development programme will be undertaken for which, LEKOIL and Optimum are in advanced discussions with a Potential Funding Partner. Lekan Akinyanmi, LEKOIL’s CEO, commented, “We are pleased to be working efficiently with Optimum and the Nigerian Department of Petroleum Resources to ensure timely approvals for our upcoming drilling and work programme(s) and we now look forward to unlocking significant value from the asset for all stakeholders, who we thank for their continued patience and support through this prolonged process.” OPL 310 is highly prospective and on trend with Aje and Seme fields located in the adjacent OML 113 and offshore Benin, respectively. The block lies in water depths ranging from the shoreline on the northside of the block to 1,900 meters in the south. The block is located in the Dahomey Basin, to the southeast of the Volta Fan and to the southwest of the Niger Delta, situated on the transform margin of West Africa in Western Nigeria
