MedOil, the oil and gas exploration company geographically focused on southern Europe and North Africa, said it has begun a 3-D seismic survey at its Louza Permit in Tunisia.

The survey work programme is being managed by strategic partner TGS-NOPEC, an international seismic acquisition and processing company.

TGS will conduct a 600 sq km 3D seismic survey on MedOil’s behalf to accurately map the oil volume potential of the M’Sela -1 “Abiod Formation” oil discovery.

The survey will also cover four other separate exploration prospects in the area, and a potentially large stratigraphic trap in the “Isis Formation”, which tested oil in the discovery well and was the producing strata in the nearby Isis oil field, the company said.

The programme is designed to add confidence to the technical analysis of the defined prospects; determine the location of a near-term appraisal drilling programme around the oil discovery; and examine the upside potential of the M’Sela stratigraphic oil trap.

MedOil said as long as weather conditions remain fair, it will acquire 20 square kilometres per day of data and the survey will take four to six weeks to complete.

MedOil’s chief executive officer, David Thomas, said: “We are delighted that the seismic survey has commenced. The acquisition of the 3D technical data should provide some important results for MedOil, and we look forward to updating the market in the coming months. Meanwhile, the company continues to pursue high impact exploration targets in the Mediterranean area.”

MedOil added that it is still in negotiations with the Maltese authorities for a one-year extension period to the original Exploration Study Area agreement for its activities in Malta.