Total made a £71 million cash offer to buy the company last month. Wessex subsequently snubbed the offer, following shareholder consultation, saying the 10p a share offer undervalues the company.

This morning Wessex said that Total has decided not to proceed further with an offer to buy the company. 

The company says it is fully funded for all its current requirements including participation in a Zaedyus appraisal well in addition to a second well, to explore the potential new hydrocarbon frontier which was established with the initial discovery.

Total is one of three major oil companies partnered in the Guyane venture that made the large Zaedyus oil discovery last year.

The other partners are Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) and Shell (LON:RDSB). Total is the largest stakeholder with a 45 per cent interest.

Wessex owns a 1.25 per cent interest in the venture, alongside Northern Petroleum (LON:NOP) which also has a 1.25 per cent stake.

It is expected that drilling will start on the next Zaedyus well in mid-2012. Shell, the project operator, has already hired the Stena DrillMax ICE drill-ship for the drilling programme.

Total’s offer to buy Wessex came just days before the French firm had to evacuate the Elgin platform in the North Sea due to a gas leak.  It is currently thought that Total could stop the leak by the end of the month.

Wessex Exploration (LON:WSX) today revealed that a seismic exploration programme has successfully been completed on the PEDL239 licence in southern England.

The seismic programme focussed on the Razorback prospect on the Isle of Wight. It was completed on budget and without any issues, it said.

Wessex said it has excellent data quality and it was a significant improvement over previous surveys.

The data processing is expected to take three weeks to complete.

Subsequently, it is planned for the new seismic to be combined with the existing seismic and mapping data of the Razorback prospect.

This should provide sufficient detail to confidently demonstrate the prospects structural integrity, the company said.

Razorback is located in a central position on the Isle of Wight and it is relatively close to the Wytch Farm oil field, which was sold by BP as part of a US$610 million deal with Perenco last year.

The prospect has two targets. The primary target is a Triassic Sherwood Sandstone reservoir and the second is a Jurrassic Oolite reservoir.

Overall Razorback is estimated to contain 43 million barrels of oil in place.

Wessex has a 25 per cent stake in the Razorback project. The venture is operated by Mirrabooka, a subsidiary of Norwest Energy, which owns the remaining 75 per cent.

Wessex Exploration (LON:WSX) said the key to progress this year is bringing one of its leads in southern England to “drillable status”.

The group owns a number of petroleum exploration and development licences around the Bournemouth and Poole area (both onshore and offshore), close to the prolific Wytch Farm field.

Last year was all about the progress of a much larger proposition where Wessex holds a far smaller stake.

The 85 per cent rise in the firm’s share price in the last year has been fuelled by success off the coast of Guayne, where it owns a 1.25 per cent stake in one of the most exciting oil exploration blocks in world.

Its partners include Shell, Total and Tullow, and results from the first well Zaeyus, were hugely encouraging.

So much so that Wessex was able to raise £12 million to fund its slug of future exploration costs.

“The net proceeds of the placing will primarily be used to ensure the company is able to maintain its percentage share in the upside potential of the project as further drilling and other work is undertaken,” said chairman David Bramhill in a statement accompanying the company’s interim results.

The figures revealed the group is well-funded with £11.9 million in the bank as at December 31.

In the six month period the group posted a loss of £556,871, which is largely irrelevant for a company at this stage in its development.

Wessex also holds a 70 per cent stake in a project on the island of Juan de Nova, which lies in the Mozambique Channel and is an overseas territory of France.

Wessex Exploration (LON:WSX) told investors that a 2D seismic survey is currently underway on the Isle of Wight.

The programme will assess the Razorback prospect which is near the large Wytch Farm oil field. 

Razorback is currently estimated to contain 43 million barrels of oil in place.

Wessex has a 25 per cent stake in the venture. The operator Norwest Energy owns the other 75 per cent.

“The identification of the Razorback prospect is the culmination of over 3 years of extensive technical work mapping the migration pathways, reservoir distribution, seal quality and structural history of PEDL 239 and surrounding regions,” Norwest said in a statement.

“Razorback appears to be favorably located, however the prospect is defined by a coarse 2D seismic grid. The current survey will infill this coarse grid and should provide sufficient detail to confidently demonstrate the prospects structural integrity.”

Norwest explains that seismic recording parameters were tested and optimised before the survey began, and it believes that the new survey could show a significant improvement in the quality of seismic data.

The partners have a large footprint in the Wessex Basin both onshore and offshore Southern England. Norwest says Razorback is its highest ranked prospect.

Razorback’s primary target is the Triassic Sherwood Sandstone and the secondary target is the Jurassic Oolite reservoir.