Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, July 12 -- White Nile Ltd., a Guernsey, UK, oil and gas exploration company owned 50% by the new government of South Sudan, has reached an exploration agreement with Ethiopia and let a contract for seismic work in South Sudan.
White Nile said it had secured permission to explore a 70,000 sq km area in Ethiopia near the 15,356 sq km Block G in the Gambela basin, which is operated by Petronas Carigali Overseas Sdn. Bhd. of Malaysia (OGJ Online, June 25, 2003).
In June, White Nile raised £7 million from an additional share issue, aimed largely at the company's exploration program in South Sudan.
White Nile let a contract to Terra Seis Geophysical Ltd., a wholly owned Calgary subsidiary of Terra Seis International, for an extensive seismic survey of its 65,000 sq km Block Ba in South Sudan.
Under the contract, Terra Seis will acquire 2,000 km of high-resolution geophysical data focused on a high-definition seismic program over a 10-month period.
The project, to start immediately, will look mainly at areas within Block Ba that are thought to be highly prospective: the extensions of the Melut and Muglad basin areas.
Terra Group Chairman Kevin Plintz said he expects data acquisition to be complete by June 2006.
The new government of South Sudan is the civil authority of New Sudan, which is being constituted as the government of Southern Sudan.
