Congo Republic: SOCO enters Mer Profonde Sud

Following the departure of Murphy Oil, Sweden’s PA Resources has won a farm-in from SOCO International for the Mer Profonde Sud exploration permit. SOCO will take a 60% operating stake and will drill an exploration well in 2014 or 2015. The exploration permit excludes the Azurite field, which Murphy is in the process of abandoning, having announced in August that the field had reached its economic limit (AE 264/9). PA Resources had been keen to secure a new partner after Murphy pulled out, arguing that the rest of the block had further exploration potential.