GeoPark secures Brazilian drilling licenses

Latin American oil and gas explorer GeoPark has secured two new licenses in a bidding round organised by the National Petroleum, National Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANP) of Brazil.

The awarded blocks are the PN-T-597 block in Maranhao and the SEAL-T-268 block in the Sergipe Alagoas basin. They are expected to cover around 196,500 acres.

The company will invest approximately $4m during the first exploratory period.

In September, GeoPark announced the signing of seven hydrocarbon blocks in the Reconcavo and Potiguar basins following its award from another ANP bidding round.

GeoPark CEO James Park said: "These new blocks allow us to incorporate two new proven onshore hydrocarbon basins into our portfolio and represent one more step in building a balanced portfolio of oil and gas assets in Brazil, with development, production and exploration opportunities."

GeoPark has a stake in 27 exploration, development and production blocks in Colombia, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, totalling around four million acres and associated infrastructure, production facilities, operating licenses and an extensive technical database.

The company held 2P reserves of 56.9 million barrels of oil equivalent as of December 2012, according to independent petroleum engineers.