THE government has granted energy explorer Invictus Energy access to an exploration area, seven times the size of its current licensed area, as the two parties move into a production sharing agreement.

The company’s licence area will expand from 100 000 hectares to 709 300 hectares. The concession gives Invictus the right to explore the entire Cabora Basa basin.

“The enlarged SG 4571 licence provides us with a basin master position encompassing the entire Cabora Bassa Basin in Zimbabwe. Subject to making an opening discovery with one of our first two wells, it potentially could provide us with future discoveries on a large scale within the basin,” Invictus MD Scot Macmillan says.

Previously, the company pleaded with the government for more hectarage to match the size of other exploration licence areas in the region, which are far bigger than that of Invictus.