Ethiopia: Russians explore Afar area

Russia’s GPB Ethiopia Resources plans an airborne full tensor gravity (FTG) and magnetic survey over the Gewane el Wiha Block in the Afar licence area. GPB Ethiopia is part of GPB Global Resources Group, which signed a production-sharing agreement for the 42,000km2 Afar licence area in July. The company, a subsidiary of Gazprom, is headed by Boris Ivanov and Christophe Gerard, both familiar faces on the African oil circuit. A tender for the FTG work closed on 3 October. The agreement has a seven-year exploration period and a 25-year production period. GPB Global Resources is the operator of the project and has committed to financing exploration.