Ophir Energy said it is still awaiting a response from Equatorial Guinea's Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons (MMH) with regards to its request for an extension of the Block R licence, where Africa's first deepwater independent floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project is planned.

"We continue to engage with the MMH as well as potential investors in the Fortuna Development. We expect to receive further communication from the MMH in January concerning either the lapse of the licence or the terms of any extension and will update shareholders as soon as the situation is clarified," the company said in a press release on Monday.

Ophir holds an 80 percent operated interest in Block R, located to the west of Bioko Island in water depths of up to 1,950 m. There have been six commercial discoveries to date in Block R, five of which were made by Ophir. Gas discovered in Block R is around 99 percent methane with no contaminants or heavier hydrocarbons.

The project will see a Golar owned LNG tanker, the Ghandria, be converted into a Floating Liquefaction, Storage and Offloading vessel.

The project entered FEED in July 2015 and FID is expected once a financing solution is finalized. Production is expected to be around 330 MMscfd with a plateau of 30 years.