The National Office of Hydrocarbons and Mines Morocco (ONHYM) has granted a one-year extension on the Inezgane offshore exploration permit to Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) to afford the company time to complete its ongoing technical work program.

The extension is to make up for the time lost on the project due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The United Kingdom-based exploration, development and production company’s activities in the North African country include interpreting 3D seismic legacy data to de-risk prospects in the Lower Cretaceous play.

Towards the end of 2019, the company acquired an eight-year offshore permit with three exploration phases. The first exploration phase is to last for two years. Upon completion of the first phase, the company will commit to drilling an oil exploration well in the second phase.

Europa aims to de-risk 30 prospects and leads that are estimated to hold about 10 billion barrels of un-risked oil resources. It has a 75% stake and license operatorship for the 11,228-square-kilometer site in the Agadir Basin, while ONHYM holds the remaining 25% stake in the license.

The Chief Executive Officer of Europa, Simon Oddie said, “We are extremely grateful to the Moroccan authorities for their swift response to the challenges posed by the global pandemic and specifically for granting us a one-year extension to the initial phase of the Inezgane license.”

 “Inezgane is living up to the promise we identified when we first applied for the license.”

“With the extension granted, we are now focused on completing the technical work ahead of securing a partner or partners with whom we can work to realize the license’s substantial potential.”

Europa is not the only oil company to have experienced disruption to their oil and gas-related activities in Morocco due to the pandemic.

Predator Oil & Gas paused drilling operations on its Guercif 75% ownership stake in eastern Morocco in April due to the pandemic which led to travel restrictions for workers. The project covers an area of 7,269 square kilometres.

The operator of the Anchois offshore development site near Larache, Chariot Oil & Gas, announced its plans to build a Moroccan gas business in response to the global market challenges amid the spread of the virus. In September, the company said it discovered a 148% increase in the project’s gas reserves compared to its initial assessment, making the total recoverable gas reserves at the site exceed one trillion cubic feet.