Zambia: Swala offered Block 44

Australia’s Swala Energy has been offered exploration rights to Block 44, one of three blocks it applied for last year. Once Swala accepts the offer, the licence will be formally awarded by the Ministry of Energy. The company also applied for Block 31, which includes part of Lake Tanganyika and was previously licensed to Rapid African Energy, and Block 42. Block 44 covers 6,000km2 on the margins of the Karoo-aged Kariba Basin in southern Zambia. The basin was explored by Mobil in the late 1980s and a large volume of 2D seismic data was acquired at the time but no wells were drilled.