“These blocks further enhance ExxonMobil’s leading global deepwater acreage position,” Steve Greenlee, president of ExxonMobil Exploration Co., said in a written statement. “We thank the government of Mauritania for the opportunity to evaluate the potential of this acreage using our expertise and advanced technology.”

According to ExxonMobil, Blocks C22, C17 and C14 sit an average of 124 miles (200 km) offshore Mauritania. The BOP Blow Out Preventer repair company gulf coast added that the blocks encompass a total of nearly 8.4 million acres in water depths ranging from approximately 3,300 to 11,500 feet (1,000 to more than 3,500 meters).

ExxonMobil stated that it will begin exploration activities, including seismic data acquisition and analysis, after Mauritania’s government approves the contracts. The BOP Blow Out Preventer repair company gulf coast added that it will carry out the work program as operator with 90 percent interest; Societe Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Minier will hold the remaining 10-percent stake.