MADAGASCAR EXTENDS AMOCO OIL EXPLORATION AGREEMENT Madagascar extended its oil exploration agreement with the U.S. Firm Amoco Corp <AN> for 17 months to allow for further studies of the Morondava basin on the southwest coast, a government statement said. It said the existing five-year agreement, due to expire this July 24, was extended until the end of 1988 to allow for additional geological and geophysical studies. Amoco has so far laid 7,100 km of seismic lines and sunk five exploration wells in the Morondava basin. It may drill a further three wells before the end of the extended exploration period, the statement said. Madagascar has signed oil exploration agreements with four foreign oil companies since 1981. But despite promising indications of large reserves, no commercial production plans have yet been announced. The foreign firms - Amoco, Occidental Petroleum Corp <OXY>, Mobil Corp <MOB> and a unit of <Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi> - are working in partnership with the National Military Office for Strategic Industries (OMNIS). Roland Ratsimandresy, the director general of OMNIS, said at a ceremenony to sign the extension of the Amoco agreement that his department would intensify oil exploration with its existing partners and would soon offer a new round of exploration licences.