Gabon: Angola’s Petroplus Overseas to drill offshore this year

Angola’s Petroplus Overseas plans to drill this year on the offshore Hyembe Block, close to Port-Gentil. The company signed two contracts in Gabon in 2011 that were confirmed by presidential decree last year. The company said in a news release that Hyembe contained 80m barrels of recoverable reserves in an area of 2,000km2. The company also has the Espadon/Roussette licence, which covers 4km2, to the west of Port-Gentil, containing an estimated 24m barrels of recoverable oil. Exploratory drilling is scheduled for 2015, Petroplus said.