ION Geophysical Corp. has reached an agreement with the Puntland Petroleum and Minerals Agency (PPMA) of the autonomous Puntland state of Somalia to complete a multiclient 2-D regional seismic survey offshore Puntland, a news release said.

The Puntland SPAN survey is the first of its kind within Puntland’s jurisdiction and will assist the PPMA in demarcating a block boundary scheme for future licensing activity, ION said in the release.

When completed, PuntlandSPAN will deliver more than 7,600 km (4,722 miles) of pre-stack depth-migrated data to help gain a better understanding of both the architecture of the sedimentary basins and the hydrocarbon potential of this margin, according to ION.

Puntland is considered highly prospective; regionally, it is a geologic analogue of Yemen and Oman, where oil reserves have been discovered in Cretaceous and Jurassic formations. Both areas once formed a single landmass before the Gulf of Aden rifted and separated the Horn of Africa from the Arabian Peninsula, the release said. Puntland’s eastern offshore region is also a conjugate margin to India, where recent discoveries have been made. In the Indian Ocean, the program will test the continuation of Mesozoic failed rift basins as well as the presence of a Karoo-aged rift system perpendicular to the coast.

The PuntlandSPAN survey is currently in planning stages, scheduled to commence in second-quarter of 2015 pending the issue of environmental and reconnaissance permits, the release said.