The Ministry of of Mines, Industry and Energy signed an amendment of the Block R production sharing contract (PSC) between the republic of Equatorial Guinea and Ophir Energy and the national oil company of Equatorial Guinea, GEPetrol.

The amendment expanded the area covered by the Block R PSC to include unlicensed acreage northwest of the original contract area to include the blocks designated as C-9, D-8, D-9 and D-10. These blocks were previously relinquished from Block C, which is currently operated by Repsol.

The Estrella de Mar-1 and Oreja Marina-1 gas discoveries, which lie within the expansion acreage, have a combined prospective resource of 250 billion cubic feet. The discoveries are analogous to Ophir’s 2008 Lykos discovery.

In return for the expanded acreage, Ophir committed to accelerate exploration activity in the area by drilling two further commitment wells. These wells will form part of a proposed three-to-four-well drilling program, which is planned to commence in the first half 2012. The program is now expected to include the Fortuna West appraisal/exploration well and the Volturnas and Tonel prospects. Ophir is now in negotiations to secure a rig as early as possible in 2012.

In March 2011, the ministry announced the signing of a memorandum of understanding relating to the commercial structure of the LNG Train 2 Integrated Project in Equatorial Guinea. Ophir’s 2012 drilling campaign on the expanded Block R is designed to prove up the 2.5 trillion cubic feet required to meet Ophir’s feedstock contribution to the second train.