Baron Oil PLC on Friday said its subsidiary, SundaGas Banda Unipessoal Lda, has been granted a six-month extension to its Chuditch contract in Timor-Leste.

The London-based oil and gas exploration and appraisal company said that SundaGas, which operates the Chuditch production sharing contract, has received the extension to ’contract year two’.

This was granted by the Autoridade Nacional do Petroleo e Minerais, or National Petroleum & Minerals Authority, of Timor-Leste.

The contract will now expire on December 18. Baron Oil said it requested the extension to allow more time to prepare for the drilling phase of the PSC.

There are a number of ongoing discussions with third parties regarding participation in the Chuditch appraisal well and future activities.

Baron said that while there is ‘the usual uncertainty’ over whether these discussions will come to fruition, this extension, alongside the work programme, ‘maximises the chances’ of a farmout.

Baron Oil shares were trading 6.9% lower at 0.091 pence each in London on Friday morning.

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