The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia is the smallest mainland African nation. It is situated on the coast of West Africa and is surrounded on all other sides by Senegal. The Gambia has a population of nearly two million persons.
The Gambia is part of the MSGBC hydrocarbon basin, where there has been proven hydrocarbon successes. Most recently, there has been considerable activity in the broader region, highlighted by exploration successes in Ghana. These successes have led to the drilling of similar play types in the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone with encouraging results, and to increased early stage exploration activity from Ghana to Guinea-Bissau. The Gambia appears to have direct analogies to many of the regional exploration successes in West Africa.
Operations
In 2006, Buried Hill Energy signed licences for two deepwater exploration blocks encompassing over 2,600 square km of high-quality exploration acreage offshore of The Gambia. These licenses – for the Alhamdulilah A1 and A4 blocks - have been comprehensively evaluated by Buried Hill Energy. Using of state-of-the art, high-resolution 3D seismic imaging technology we identified at least five play types and an inventory of 24 prospects and leads. The two blocks hold considerable exploration upside with a total unrisked, mean recoverable potential in excess of 4.6 billion barrels.
In August 2010, Buried Hill Energy entered into a farm-in agreement with African Petroleum Corporation Limited (African Petroleum) whereby we will retain a 40% participating interest and African Petroleum will assume operatorship and pay 80% of the forward work programme and related costs on the acquisition of over 2,000 sq kms of 3D seismic and the drilling of the first exploration well.