By Uchenna Izundu
Oil and Gas Journal

LONDON, Jan. 25 — White Nile Ltd. will explore and develop a 29,000-sq-km block on the southern Rift basin in southwestern Ethiopia under a production-sharing agreement signed with that country. Seismic data collection will start in the fourth quarter.

White Nile has secured sole exploration, development, and production petroleum rights in the contract area in return for satisfying various development commitments. Exploration will proceed for 4 years initially with a development and production period of 25 years once a development plan is implemented. It has budgeted at least $6 million for seismic data and $8 million for drilling operations.

White Nile described its block as prospective following a 2-year joint study that concluded its acreage sits at an intersection between a southeastern extension of the petroliferous Cretaceous and early Tertiary basins of southern Sudan, in particular the Muglad rift system and the younger East African rift system, on which Tullow Oil PLC recently discovered oil.

Contact Uchenna Izundu at [email protected].