Chevron: Exploratory Oil Drilling in Liberia to Start in 4Q

HOUSTON (Dow Jones Newswires), July 12, 2011

Chevron said Tuesday that in the fourth quarter of this year it will start exploratory drilling off the coast of Liberia, a West African nation that doesn't yet produce crude, but holds promising acreage.

"We plan to drill in the fourth quarter of this year," said Mickey Driver, a company's spokesman, in an email.

Last year, Chevron signed a three-year deal with Liberia to explore for oil offshore. Chevron Chief Executive John Watson visited the country for the first time this week and said the company has a rig that will be entering Liberian waters shortly, according to a local news report.

Chevron's foray is the latest in an emerging oil region in West Africa, where giant fields such as Tullow Oil's Jubilee and Anadarko's Venus have been found.

Liberia is still healing from long years of strife. The discovery of oil would greatly boost the recovery of the agrarian nation, one of the world's poorest, and propel it into the ranks of budding African oil powers like Ghana and Uganda.

Copyright (c) 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.


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