A low-cost, low-risk entry program will see the oil and gas junior commit $1.65 million over an initial two-year period during which it will reprocess 5000 square kilometres of existing seismic data and acquire 400km of new data.

On completion, Cooper will be able to convert the permit to a five-year exploration licence which will involve acquiring an additional 200 square kilometres of 3D seismic data and drilling one well. Estimated expenditure for the licence is $11 million.

Preliminary evaluations have highlighted three main prospects in the Bargou with P50 undiscovered reserves in the region of 25 million barrels each. The company expects its activities over the next two years will uncover further prospectivity.

Located between the prolific oil producing countries of Libya and Algeria, Tunisia is an established oil and gas producer with production of 80,000-100,000 barrels of oil per day over the past decade.

The country has a good existing network of oil and gas pipelines, five of which export gas to Europe via Sicily.

The Bargou Block has easy access to nearby onshore gas pipelines and the major shipping port of Sousse, on the western boundary of the permit area.

Earlier this week, Cooper announced it was moving to farm into a buy a 10% stake in Block B offshore Cambodia with a Malaysian-controlled company, Resourceful Petroleum Limited.

Last week, the company had said it was actively pursuing low-cost, high-value opportunities in North Africa and South East Asia while continuing to foster and develop its Cooper Basin interests.