Australian Oil and gas explorer FAR Ltd said on Tuesday it bought an additional 10% interest in two offshore blocks off Gambia, giving the company a 50% working interest and operatorship of the project.

The Gambian government has issued new licences to the joint venture between the company’s unit FAR Gambia and PC Gambia, a unit of Malaysian state-run oil and gas major Petroliam Nasional Bhd, FAR said in a statement.

Under the new licences, the joint venture partners will each get an equal participating and paying interest.

The key terms of the new licences include a three-year initial exploration period along with two optional extension periods of two years each, and signature bonuses of $4.5 million.

In August, FAR, which holds a stake in licences for oil drilling off the coast of West Africa’s Guinea-Bissau, said a unit of China National Offshore Oil Corp would take a majority stake in those projects.

(Reuters)