Challenger Energy Group PLC announced the formal signing of its AREA OFF-3 licence, offshore Uruguay. The AREA OFF-3 licence was awarded to the Company on 2 June 2023 under the Open Uruguay Round process and, following final regulatory approvals being granted, was signed in Montevideo on 7th March 2024 (the "Licence"). Accordingly, AREA OFF-3's first exploration period will commence on 7 June 2024, and will run for four years, until 6 June 2028.

The AREA OFF-3 licence covers an area of 13,252 km2 located in relatively shallow water depths (from 20 to 1,000 meters) approximately 100kms off the Uruguayan coast. The block has substantial existing 2D and 3D seismic coverage, with two previously identified material prospects possessing currently estimated gross resource potential of up to ~2 billion barrels of oil and up to ~9 trillion cubic feet gas. During the initial exploration period, the Company's minimum work obligations on the AREA OFF-3 block are relatively modest, comprising Licensing and reprocessing of 1,000 kms of legacy 2D seismic data, and undertaking two geotechnical studies.

The Company intends to follow a similar strategy to that successfully adopted for the AREA OFF-1 licence (the farm-out of which to Chevron was announced on 6 March 2024), specifically to accelerate its technical work programme including additional discretionary work, with the objective of high-grading existing prospects and identifying new plays and prospects, and ultimately with a view to introducing a strategic partner at an early stage.