04-04-08 A contract was signed to that effect between the government and Addax Petroleum Cameroon.
The next three years will witness an important research activity at the Iroko area in the Rio del Rey basin on the Cameroon-Nigeria border in a bid to identify the oil potential of the area. The government of Cameroon signed a production sharing contract with Addax Petroleum Cameroon Limited, a subsidiary of the Swiss company, Addax Petroleum Corporation to enable the latter to carry out the operation.

The Iroko area, formerly called Mokoko West Block, is specifically located west of Cameroon's Rio del Rey and west of the Mokoko Abana concession exploited by Pecten Cameroon. The 15.75 km sq-area is equally found east of the Nigerian OML-123 block. The contract empowers the Swiss company to carryout exploration activities in the area for a three-year period.
"The work obligation provides notably, the acquisition, the processing and interpretation of the 22 km of the 3D seismic data and the drilling of the exploration well to a depth of at least 1,100 metres", a statement issued at the end of the signing ceremony and jointly signed by Adolphe Moudiki, Executive General Manager of the National Hydrocarbons Corporation (SNH) and Gerard Hautavoine, General Manager of Addax Petroleum Cameroon, said.

The project, to cost $ 17.5 mm is the ninth contract signed within the framework of the 1999 Petroleum code. The Minister of Industries, Mines and Technological Development, Badel Ndanga Ndinga and the Executive General Manager of SNH, Adolphe Moudiki signed for Cameroon while Gerard Hautavoine, General Manager of Addax Petroleum Cameroon signed for his company.
The Iroko area where the research will be carried out has one basic advantage. According to the Director of Exploration, at SNH, Tamfu Simon, who made a succinct presentation of the area, if oil is found after the exploration activities, existing facilities belonging to Pecten will be deployed for further activity.

The Addax Petroleum Corporation is active in petroleum exploration and production in several countries including Nigeria and Gabon.
In Cameroon, it began drilling two exploration wells offshore the Ngosso Permit on February 27, 2008, some 6 km from the southern coast of the Bakassi peninsula.