Simba Energy of Canada Signs Production Sharing Deal With Kenya

Simba Energy Inc. (SMB), a Canadian oil and gas explorer focusing on Africa, said it had entered a production sharing agreement with Kenya for an exploration block in the country’s northeast.

The British Columbia-based company said securing Block 2A, which stretches over 7,802 square kilometers (3,012 square miles), corresponds with its plan to pursue “underexplored and overlooked onshore basins in Africa,” according to a statement on its website yesterday.

Existing two-dimensional seismic data and other evidence indicates the area has an “excellent potential for significant oil and gas discoveries,” according to the statement. The company will begin “baseline” environmental studies before beginning to acquire new seismic data, it said.

Simba Energy is also searching for oil and gas in the West African nations of Liberia, Guinea, Mali and Ghana, among other places on the continent, the statement said.

Dominion Petroleum Ltd. (DPL) said on Aug. 1 it was granted rights to explore Block L15 in Kenya’s Lamu Basin, in a two-year agreement committing it to spend at least $2.85 million.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sarah McGregor in London at smcgregor5@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew J. Barden at barden@bloomberg.net.