Sunda Energy PLC (AIM:SNDA) told investors it has cleared a key regulatory step ahead of drilling the Chuditch-2 appraisal well offshore Timor-Leste, with its wholly owned subsidiary awarded an environmental licence for the operation.
The AIM-listed group's subsidiary, SundaGas Banda Unipessoal, operator of the TL-SO-19-16 production sharing contract, received the Category A environmental licence from upstream regulator ANP on Monday, 9 March.
The permit follows submission of final Environmental Impact Statement and Environmental Management Plan documents earlier this year, after consultations with the regulator. According to the company, ANP’s Evaluation Committee endorsed the EIS and EMP before the award was approved by Timor-Leste’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources. The licence now runs until 9 March 2028 and includes conditions centred on a waste management plan ahead of operations and a post-drilling environmental survey.
Chief executive Andy Butler called the approval “a major milestone” in drilling preparations.
Butler said: "Award of the Environmental Licence for Chuditch-2 is a major milestone in our drilling preparations, and the fruit of considerable survey works, studies, reviews and planning. I thank my colleagues and ANP for the strong collaborative efforts that went into preparing the extremely thorough EIS and EMP documents."