Government and PERENCO signed the Production Sharing Contract in Yaounde on Tuesday.

The government of Cameroon has engaged PERENCO Cameroon, an affiliate of the PERENCO Group, to carry out oil exploration on the Moabi block (former Mondoni Concession), situated offshore in the Rio Del Rey basin covering a total surface area of 137.13 square kilometers.

This follows a Production Sharing Contract signed at the headquarters of the National Hydrocarbons Corporation (NHC) in Yaounde yesterday January 15 in a ceremony chaired by the Minister of Mines, Industries and Technological Development, Emmanuel Bonde. The Executive General Manager of NHC, Adolphe Moudiki, signed with the Minister for Cameroon while Denis Clerc-Renaud, General Manager of PERENCO Cameroon, signed for his Group.

The terms of the Production Sharing Contract stipulate that PERENCO will realise a work programme on the land for a first period of three years. This will comprise in the reprocessing and interpretation of existing 3G seismic data and the drilling of two wells to a minimum depth of 1,100 metres with a corresponding investment estimated at 35 million US dollars. According to a press release that sanctioned the contract signing ceremony, the programme could be extended to two other additional periods of two years each depending on the results of the first period. The drilling of one exploration well each is previewed to a minimum depth of 1,100 metres during the extension. The total minimum investment for the three periods totaling seven years is estimated at 65 million US dollars.

It was revealed during yesterday's ceremony that the negotiations which resulted in the signature of the contract were undertaken for Cameroon by a team of experts comprising representatives of the Ministries of Mines, Industry and Technological Development, Finance, Trade, Environment and Sustainable Development, Energy and Water Resources, Economy, Planning and Regional Development as well as the National Hydrocarbons Corporation while the General Manager of PERENCO led a delegation of the Group's experts. It was disclosed that yesterday's contract was the 19th signed within the framework of the application of the Law no. 99/013 of December 22, 1999 on the Petroleum Code.

Speaking during the ceremony, the General Manager of PERENCO Cameroon, Denis Clerc-Renaud, rejoiced over what he termed mutual confidence existing between government and his Group promising to do all to deliver the goods.

The Group is present in Cameroon through PERENCO Cameroon and PERENCO Rio Del Rey affiliates with a present operated cumulative production of 45,000 barrels per day accounting for 75 per cent of the total national daily production.