Gulfsands Petroleum gets Llanos-50 contract extension

Gulfsands Petroleum's shares rose after it said the Agencia Nacional de Hidrocarburos (ANH) in Colombia has granted it an 18-month extension for the Llanos-50 (LLA-50) contract.

The Phase I of the LLA-50 contract expired in November 2016 and Gulfsands had been in talks with ANH since then, to secure an extension to the license contract.

Gulfsands had proposed increasing the minimum work programme for Phase 1, by adding 52 km of additional 2D seismic, with an estimated cost of about $1.4m, in exchange for an extension to the Phase 1 period of 18 months.

It today confirmed that the ANH had accepted this proposal, and that it had now completed all formalities, including the provision of appropriate financial guarantee arrangements to consummate the 18 month extension.

The Phase 1 period would now run to May 2018.

"In anticipation of the formalisation of the extension, the group has already commenced work on reprocessing legacy seismic, and has begun tendering for the initial environmental work and expects to commence this work shortly."

Gulfsands said it continued to seek a partner for the LLA-50 Contract and any interested parties are invited to contact the company directly for further details.

At 14:43 BST, shares in AIM-traded Gulfsands were up 7.5% to 5.38p.