Mediterranean Oil & Gas, which holds a licence to drill for oil in Maltese waters, has been given a six-month extension on the production sharing contract it has with the government.

The agreement covers Area 4 Blocks 4, 5, 6 and 7 in the zone where the sea border with Libya was delineated by the International Court of Justice in 1985.

“This extension will enable the contractors to the (production sharing contract) PSC to have sufficient time to complete the exploration drilling activities that are forecast to start in Q1 2014. With this extension, the expiry of the first exploration period to the PSC is now July 17, 2014,” the company said.

Mediterranean Oil and Gas CEO Bill Higgs said: “We appreciate the continued support of the Maltese government as we prepare to drill the Ħaġar Qim 1 exploration well with our partner Genel Energy. “The first half of 2014 will be an important time for the company with the drilling of two exploration wells: one offshore Malta Area 4 and one onshore Italy. This increased activity is an important step forward for the company.”

The business was granted another extension, of one year, in 2013.

Times of Malta reported last February that drilling of Ħaġar Qim 1 had been due to start in the last quarter of 2013.

Dr Higgs told the newspaper in 2012 that the company was very excited about the seismic data, which gave strong indications the area could contain anything between 130 million and 200 million barrels of oil.

“This area has never been explored but the information we have obtained has given us enough confidence to move ahead with the drilling of two exploratory oil wells,” Dr Higgs had said.

The Area 4 well, 150 kilometres south of Malta, is expected to be 2.5 kilometres deep and it will take 60 days of drilling to reach the potentially oil-rich area.