Oyster Oil and Gas receives approval to commence Phase III exploration at Djibouti

Oyster Oil and Gas has received the approval of the Government of Djibouti to commence exploration activities under Phase III of the Production Sharing Contract (PSC).

The approval carries a three-year validity that became effective from 1 March this year, and is scheduled to end in February 2020.

In the last five years, Oyster has conducted extensive exploration activities across its four exploration blocks in Djibouti.

Last year, it focused primarily on the Block 1 in the south-eastern part of the country.

The block is mainly onshore, but also includes the adjacent offshore acreage and covers an area of 3,400km². Last year, Bridgeporth conducted airborne gravity and magnetics survey that indicated that the target Mesozoic sedimentary basin extends across most of Block 1.

Oyster’s technical team carried out a survey in January to analyse the next phase of exploration activities, including an onshore seismic campaign.

Oyster Oil and Gas exploration head Dr Phil Roach said: “Oyster is delighted to proceed to the third exploration phase in Djibouti, and is grateful to the both the Energy Ministry and CERD for their continued support.

“We are targeting a Mesozoic basin, which is seen in outcrop in the south-west of the country, since the Mesozoic basins on the south side of the Gulf of Aden were once contiguous with the prolific hydrocarbon basins in Yemen to the north, prior to the opening of the Gulf of Aden.

“Our work programmes over the last five years have been thoughtfully designed to de-risk the various elements involved and have been extremely successful to that end. Geological fieldwork in south-west Djibouti has already confirmed the presence of Jurassic oil source, reservoir and seal.

“The areal extent of the Mesozoic basin in Block 1 remained a major uncertainty, but the results from the airborne survey surpassed expectations and indicates that the basin does extend throughout most of Block 1. The airborne survey has also allowed us to high-grade a specific area for seismic acquisition in the near future.”

Oyster Oil and Gas focuses on Eastern Africa and holds production sharing contracts with the Government of Djibouti and the Government of Madagascar.

Oyster owns 100% of four blocks in Djibouti, including nearly 3.5 million acres located onshore and offshore.