Panoro Energy has signed an agreement with the Government of Equatorial Guinea on the key terms for the award of offshore Block EG-23.

This heads of terms agreement, signed alongside national oil company GEPetrol and the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons, leads to a period of exclusive negotiations to finalise a PSC for the block, and development of a work programme and budget.

Located north of Bioko Island and near the Alba gas and condensate field, Block EG-23 spans approximately 600km² in water depths of 50–100m. It has seen 19 wells drilled, leading to seven hydrocarbon discoveries.

Panoro envisages holding up to an 80% participating interest in the block upon the award of a PSC.

It plans to reprocess existing seismic data as part of its initial work programme to advance prospects, leading to a drill-ready state.

If successful, Panoro may proceed to a second stage, which would involve drilling activities to further explore the block's potential.

Panoro CEO John Hamilton said: “We are grateful to the Government of Equatorial Guinea for this opportunity to enter into a PSC for the highly prospective Block EG-23 and further grow our business in Equatorial Guinea.

“The award of a PSC for Block EG-23, when finalised, will be a complementary expansion of our existing acreage portfolio in Equatorial Guinea. We look forward to partnering with GEPetrol to leverage our collective core subsurface skill sets, increasing our exposure to a broad range of play types, prospects and leads in the vicinity of existing infrastructure.”

Last year, Panoro agreed to acquire a 40% stake in Sfax Petroleum Corporation (SPC) from Beender Tunisia Petroleum in a cash and shares deal worth $18.2m (NKr195m).

Through its subsidiaries, SPC indirectly holds a 49% stake in the producing TPS assets in northern Tunisia.