BG Group is ready to move into the secondphase of its seismic acquisition programme off Uruguay later this year withdrilling potentially coming as early as 2016.

The UK gas giant has already completedphase one of its seismic activity on a trio of blocks it won in the frontier SouthAmerican nation’s second licensing round in 2012.

Blocks 8, 9 and 13, in which BG has 100%stakes, cover an area of some 13,000 square kilometres, with the work programmecalling for just over half of this to be covered in the first phase of seismic.

BG