African Petroleum, an independent oil and gas exploration company operating ten licenses in five countries offshore West Africa, has entered into a new Production Sharing Contract (PSC) with Ophir Energy, a London-based company operating in Africa and Asia, to cover the CI-513 license area in Côte d’Ivoire, Scandoil reported.

In accordance with the PSC terms, Ophir Energy and African Petroleum will each hold a 45% interest and Petroci, the National Oil Company of Côte d’Ivoire will have the remaining 10%.

According to Rigzone, Ophir Energy has pledged to contribute $16.9m towards African Petroleum’s historical investment in 3D seismic and transaction costs, and additional 10% to cover the costs of the drilling of the first exploration well on the block.

Earlier in 2015, African Petroleum had signed a joint bidding agreement with Ophir leading to the PSC, and began working with  the Government of Côte d’Ivoire to revise the terms of the deal, Scandoil previously informed.