Gambia Cold-Shoulders Indie

African Petroleum Corporation, the Oslo-listed independent part-owned by Romanian-Australian businessman Frank Timis, said August 21 it takes note of Gambian press reports that say its A1 and A4 offshore licences have expired and are now deemed open acreage.

"The company confirms that it is yet to receive any formal feedback from the Gambian authorities regarding the status of its A1 and A4 licences...[and] has not received formal notification initiating the termination process as detailed in the licences, and therefore retains its rights under the A1 and A4 licences," it said.

CEO Jens Pace said: "We were given guidance by the President of The Gambia that formal feedback would be provided to the company following cabinet level discussions and so we remain hopeful that this will be forthcoming.... We are therefore taking the appropriate measures to ensure we move swiftly to protect our rights on these licences should we not receive formal feedback by the end of the month, or should that feedback not be in line with our expectations."

The company is in a worse position in neighbouring Senegal where its 90% interest in a large prospective offshore block was simply reassigned to Total. Following gas discoveries by Kosmos and oil finds by Cairn offshore this region of northwest Africa, deepwater exploration blocks have become prized assets.

Mark Smedley