Following applications for extension to the ministry of hydrocarbons in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the joint venture partners with Total E&P as operator have been told that the Block III licence has been extended to two years, SacOil disclosed.

The exploration period of the block is extended from 27th of January 2016 to the 26th of January 2018. The added time will be used to complete the acquisition and processing of 2D seismic data on the block.

The Block III licence is situated in the North-Eastern part of the Albertine Graben Basin, bordering Uganda. It covers an area of 3,177km².

Till today the JV partners have successfully completed the acquisition and processing of a gravity and magnetic survey on the Northern part of the Block III area, outside the Virunga National Park.

The group company holding interests on the block are: Semliki SARL (18.3%). Semliki is owned by SacOil (68%) and DIG (32%) respectively. SacOil’s effective interest in the asset is therefore 12.5%, Energy-Pedia reports.