Equatorial Guinea plans to offer up acreage offshore Block R with the related Fortuna gas development project in its April licensing round, after the concession was reclaimed from Ophir Energy, Gabriel Obiang Lima, the country’s oil minister, was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.

Lima said that Block R would be one of up to 13 deepwater and ultra-deepwater blocks offered in the licensing round on April .

Ophir was denied an extension in December to its license for Block R and its plan for a FLNG project.

“What we have decided is to present it in the next license round,” the Minister was cited by Reuters as saying. “This is going to be the first license round that will have an exploration area (and) a developing area because it will be the Ophir area,” he said.

Ophir lost the block when it was unable to secure financing for the Fortuna FLNG project.