Sierra Leone is giving more time to interested parties to join the West African nation’s fourth licensing round, as it extended the open and direct tenders.
Timothy Kabba, the director general of the Sierra Leone Petroleum Directorate, said the recently relaunched licence round will now run into next year amid “requests from potential investors”.
“The response to date has been encouraging and it is hoped that this momentum will be sustained,” Kabba said.
“Following requests from potential investors, and being mindful of the need to provide a fair opportunity to all interested parties, the directorate is pleased to announce that the deadline for submission of applications in the fourth licensing round is hereby extended to allow companies additional time to complete their applications,” he said.
The new deadline for both open tender and direct tender categories will now close on the 28 February 2020.
Previously, the deadline for open tender applications was 22 November, and direct tender negotiations on 20 September.
Direct tenders are on offer for licence applications where 50% or more of an area is in water depths of over 2500 metres, while all other areas will be subject to an open tender.
A map accompanying the Petroleum Directorate's statement on the offering showcases dozens of blocks. Water depths across the acreage range from 50 metres to more than 4000 metres.
The data on offer includes more than 29,000 kilometres of 2D seismic and more than 11,000 square kilometres of 3D seismic.
Sierra Leone has only had eight exploration wells drilled offshore, with six exhibiting hydrocarbon shows.
UK-based advisory company Getech Group is supporting the round, which has been launched after a six-month industry consultation.
A spokesman for Getech previously clarified that no specific licence areas have been defined, so it is up to applicants to decide the scope of their area of interest.