By Wendell Roelf
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) -Chevron is looking to expand its acreage in West Africa, which is a strategic region for the U.S. oil major, a senior executive said on Monday after striking a deal to explore for oil in two offshore blocks in Guinea-Bissau.
The blocks are in the Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Bissau and Conakry (MSGBC) basin, a geological region in West Africa that has become a major focus for the oil and gas sector after large recent discoveries, including GTA and Sangomar.
“So West Africa is strategic to Chevron and we continue to be keen to acquire additional acreage in West Africa,” Liz Schwarze, Chevron’s vice president for exploration told Reuters.
“Sometimes you find gas, but the entry premise is really to explore for oil here,” she added after Chevron announced the beginning of a new chapter with Guinea-Bissau, in alignment with its strategy of adding “high-quality acreage” globally.
Chevron’s local unit will be the operator of Blocks 5B and 6B with a 90% working interest in both. Petroguin, Guinea-Bissau’s national oil company, holds the remainder.
Schwarze said Chevron will interpret 2D and 3D seismic data that covered the two blocks found in deep to ultra-deep water.
“We do see a number of plays and great geology in the area,” she said, adding it was too early to say when the first exploration wells could be drilled.
(Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Editing by Alexander Winning and Alexander Smith)
