African Petroleum has agreed to extend the date by which a proposed farm-out of its stake in a frontier block offshore West Africa’s Liberia takes place.

The independent explorer has a 100% operated interest in Licence LB-08, and signed a non-binding term sheet in December last year with an unidentified “private London-based independent oil and gas company” for the farm-in.

The company says it has agreed to extend the date by which completion of the farm-in transaction must be satisfied or waived to 20 March 2015. This has been agreed in order to allow both parties additional time to finalise and agree the transaction documentation, it added.

If it goes ahead, the new but apparently experienced larger entrant will acquire a 50% net participating interest in the deepwater licence in return for the payment of 50% of all future costs and expenditures relating to the licence, and a contribution to past costs and expenditures.

In an independent review of African Petroleum’s acreage conducted by ERC Equipoise Ltd. in April 2014, and updated in January this year, the estimated net unrisked mean prospective oil resources of LB-08 is put at more than 2.6 Bbbl. “With an oil discovery in the adjacent licence and proof of a working hydrocarbon system in the central Liberian basin, the company believes that LB-08 has substantial potential,” says African Petroleum.

The company has also hinted it expects to carry out further farm-outs for the block this year.