London-listed independent Cairn Energy says it “expects to complete the signing of a new license across the acreage” covered by Mauritania’s offshore Block C7 “in the near term.”

Cairn last March took 40% of the block from erstwhile operator, French major Total (MEES, 13 March 2020). However the entry didn’t last long. Total decided to relinquish the block in Q2 last year, whist Cairn “chose to allow the licence to lapse and has subsequently reapplied.” This move was presumably made to reset exploration commitments: the block had been due to move to a second exploration phase with drilling commitments when Total quit. (CONTINUED - 171 WORDS)