Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited ("COPL"), an international oil and gas exploration and development company focused on offshore Africa, announces that its 50% owned joint venture company, Shoreline Canadian Overseas Petroleum Development Corporation ("ShoreCan") and Essar Exploration & Production Limited (Mauritius) ("Essar Mauritius") have agreed to extend the backstop date to July 20, 2020 to enter into definitive documentation as outlined in the agreement in principal, announced on June 4, 2020, to resolve their disputes with each other concerning, among other things, their respective obligations under the Essar Exploration and Production Limited (Nigeria) Shareholders Agreement. The agreement between ShoreCan and Essar Mauritius to extend the backstop date also extends the immediate stay in proceedings of the claim filed by Essar Mauritius against ShoreCan in the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, also announced on June 4th, until July 20, 2020.

Arthur Millholland, President and CEO, commented: 
"The time taken to enter into the definitive documents has taken longer than both parties thought at the outset. With the commercial terms settled in the agreement in principal, the legal language over a number of agreements has taken time to conclude. We are close to completion on these, but with both parties working amicably we just ran out of time. We continue to look forward to the future working relationship with Essar to unlock the potential of OPL 226."  

KeyFacts Energy: Canadian Overseas Petroleum Nigeria country profile