African Petroleum extends licenses in Ivory Coast

African Petroleum Corp. said Tuesday it secured an extension for its exploration program for two areas in the deep waters offshore Ivory Coast.

The company's Ivorian subsidiary, African Petroleum Cote d'Ivoire Ltd., agreed to extend the period for production sharing contracts in Blocks CI-513 and CI-509 through December 2015 and March 2016 respectively.

Stuart Lake, the company's chief executive officer, said in a statement Monday the extension means the company can further review the seismic data used to get a better understanding off the offshore reserve potential and build on its relationship with the Ivorian government under the terms of the contract extension.

Last week, French energy company Total said it made an oil discovery while drilling in the deep waters offshore Ivory Coast. In 2013, the French company said some of the reserves off the Ivorian coast may be contiguous with those in Ghana, which hosts the giant Jubilee oil field.