The company has chosen to enter the first additional exploration phase in PSC L-7, which includes drilling one well before June 2008, Brisbane-based Global Petroleum announced today.

In March, the Woodside-Dana-Global JV announced it would drill the first oil exploration well in Blocks L-5 and L-7 in the last quarter of this year, depending on weather and ocean conditions and the arrival of the rig in Kenya.

The owner of the deepwater drilling vessel, Japanese Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), has now approved the rig contract with Woodside.

As a result of both the Dana and Woodside farm-in, Global will be fully carried through the first exploration wells in each of L5 and L7, and has 20% equity. Woodside, which will act as operator, holds a 50% interest, while Dana has 30%.

“The extended commitment from Woodside, a successful major oil and gas exploration and development company, supports Global’s confidence in this under-explored province,” Global chairman Dr John Armstrong said today.

On its website, Woodside says it regards Kenya as an under-explored frontier area with significant potential, identifying it as “the most prospective part of east Africa, with several large geological structures hosting multiple targets similar to those found on Australia’s North West Shelf”.

Woodside has identified some 50 prospects and leads, some of which have the potential to contain between several hundred million and 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil.