(Ecofin Agency) - African Petroleum on Wednesday announced that the production sharing contracts for blocks LB-08 and LB-09 in Liberia, have expired and will not be extended.

The PSCs expired in June 2016 and ever since then, African Petroleum had been in talks with relevant Liberian authorities concerning the possible adjustment of terms and extension of these blocks so as to allow the Company have more time to attract partners at the same time as not enduring costly work commitments. But an agreement on the terms offered by African Petroleum could not be agreed upon and the Company was notified that the PSCs had expired.

The independent oil and gas exploration company operating high impact exploration licences offshore West Africa, has been on the hunt for partners on these PSCs for some time but has received little industry interest due to the challenging market conditions for exploration activity as well as inadequate commercial finds in Liberia, Energy-pedia reports.

Based on independent assessments produced by ERC Equipoise, the expiration of these PSCs reduces the African Petroleum’s recognized prospective resources to 7.4 billion net unrisked mean prospective oil resources.

“African Petroleum has been active in Liberia for some time and has played a major role in helping to progress the industry in the country through the successful drilling of three exploration wells, including the non-commercial discovery at Narina-1. It is therefore disappointing to be exiting the country; however, our near term focus and resources must go towards the other more exciting assets within our portfolio that are generating the most industry interest and lie within proven hydrocarbon systems adjacent to world class commercial discoveries,” Jens Pace, the company’s CEO, said.

Anita Fatunji