Atlas Oranto Petroleum International Limited (AOPI), made up of Atlas Petroleum International Limited and Oranto Petroleum International Limited, an oil & gas firm with specialisation in oil drilling, has expanded its global reach with the signing of oil prospecting agreement in Venezuela.

Chairman of Oranto Petroleum Limited, Prince Arthur Eze, who recently signed the agreement in the presence of Venezuelan President, Nicolas Madura, said this is the beginning of the company’s expansion to North and South America.

Before the Venezuelan deal, Oranto Petroleum has been a major player in the oil sector in Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Uganda, Mozambique, etc.

Last year, Uganda extended an oil exploration license to Oranto Petroleum by two years, beyond the December 29, 2023 expiration date of the initial deal for Ngassa Shallow and Deep areas in the western Hoima and Kikuube districts signed in 2017. In 2017, Oranto was issued two petroleum exploration licenses for the Ngassa Deep and Ngassa Shallow contract areas in Uganda.

Atlas Petroleum International Limited had announced the Venus oil discovery in Block P, Equatorial Guinea, jointly with its partners Vaalco as Operator, and Guinea Ecuatorial de Petroleós Co. (GEPetrol) as the state-owned oil company of Equatorial Guinea, representing the interests of the state.

The joint venture will acquire, convert and install oil production infrastructure over the next three years. Venus field activities are expected to add 23.1 MMbbl of oil of 2P gross reserves. The partners expect oil production from the field to reach about 15,000 gross b/d of oil upon completion of the two development and injector wells.

A statement by Vaalco Energy, Inc. on the Block P Venus discovery Plan of Development (POD) in Equatorial Guinea, said: “Atlas Petroleum, as a legacy investor in Equatorial Guinea, has been a partner in Block P prior to Vaalco’s entrance to the block, and remains an investor with an active participating interest in Block P. Any claims to the contrary by Vaalco or any company are false, outrageous and misleading.

“Atlas has not relinquished any part of its interest and does not intend to walk away from Block P. Any assertion by a company that has decided to drill and develop an oil field in the media are wrong. We know work is done on platforms not with the media and we urge our partners to refrain from this. We are in constant communication with the government and have never received a letter from the government or GEPetrol that our PSC and interest have been cancelled.”