Impact Oil and Gas has been awarded a new exploration license covering the AGC Profond Block located offshore in the Senegal/Guinea-Bissau joint development zone.

The AGC Profond license covers about 6,700 sq km (2,587 sq miles) in water depths ranging from 1,000 m to more than 3,000 m (3,281 ft to 9,843 ft) and is located in a proven petroleum area west of the Dome Flore and Dome Gea oil fields adjacent to Impact’s Block 4B offshore Guinea-Bissau.

AGC Profond was previously held by a consortium led by Ophir Energy Plc, which drilled the Kora-1 well in the northern part of the block in 2011. The well was located on the crest of a salt piercement feature and encountered claystone and interbedded limestones rather than the prognosed sandstone reservoir facies. However, Impact said in a press release that it believes that the block remains very prospective particularly for Cretaceous fans that have been the target for recent successful drilling in Cairn’s Senegal Sagomar license located to the north of the AGC Profond block.

The initial term of Impact’s license lasts three years. During this period, Impact expects to acquire, reprocess and interpret existing data on the license. Further seismic may be acquired if it is deemed necessary. A well could be drilled before the end of the first period or during the first renewal period, which lasts for two years.

Impact as operator has an 85% interest with Enterprise AGC S.A. holding 15% in the license.