CanOverseas Sees Losses Mount
Toronto-listed Africa explorer Canadian Overseas Petroleum (COPL) has got deeper into the red. In results filed March 22, it made a US$20.4mn net loss in 2017, compared to one of $6.3mn in 2016.
Its March 23 statement to the London stock exchange said COPL will focus on drilling an oil prospect at OPL 226 offshore Nigeria and, separately, that it and ExxonMobil had let their LB-13 licence offshore Liberia expire in September 2017 following a dry well there in late 2016.
Among 2017 highlights was the award in December of a southern Mozambique onshore block PT5-B, which it says is adjacent to Sasol’s Pande-Temane gas and light oil field which produced 475mn ft3/d in 2016.
In December, COPL said the PT5-B consortium was invited to negotiate a production sharing contract with the Mozambican government in 1Q 2018 to include the acquisition of 1,600 line km of 2D seismic, but it provided no update on that.
ShoreCan, the 50-50% owned joint venture of COPL and Nigeria’s Shoreline Energy, holds 57% interest in the PT5-B consortium awarded the block and is the operator. Partners are oil trader Bluegreen Holdings (23%), Mozambican investment fund Indico Dourado (10%) and Mozambican state ENH (with a carried 10% stake).