Wildcat Petroleum PLC on Monday said it has signed a deal with the Sudanese government to help develop its oil sector.

Wildcat Petroleum is an Uxbridge, England-based company targeting investment opportunities in the upstream sector of the petroleum industry, namely the exploration, appraisal, development and production of oil and gas.

Under a memorandum of understanding, the company has agreed to work in collaboration with the Sudan Oil Ministry to advance the development and commercial exploitation of hydrocarbon assets in Sudan.

Wildcat shares were 55% higher at 1.70 pence each in London on Monday morning.

The ultimate aim of the venture is to increase overall oil production in Sudan by 100,000 barrels per day by developing specific land blocks in the south of the country.

Wildcat will focus on four blocks, which together contain over one billion barrels of oil, and are already connected to petroleum transport infrastructure and other facilities.

Both the Sudanese Petroleum Corp and Wildcat recognised the significant investment that would be required to make this possible, Wildcat said.

It has been in preliminary talks with potential funding partners for some time, many of whom would be capable of providing both the scale of investment required and additional technical resources, Wildcat said.

The company itself does not expect to fund significant capital expenditure.

‘A lot of work has gone on in the background in the past year both in terms of assessing third party finance options as well as drawing up operational oil production development plans with the government,’ said Wildcat Chair Mandhir Singh.

‘With oil prices hovering at historical highs, it is the intention of the company to proceed quickly to signing its first production sharing agreement with the Sudanese government.’

The agreement is for an initial period to December 31, with the option to extend pending approval from both parties.

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