Australian energy company FAR Ltd. said Monday a deep water drilling program slated for Senegal could change the opinion about the country's reserve potential.

FAR, working as a minority partner in a joint venture that includes Cairn Energy and ConocoPhillips, said drilling activity resumed off the coast of Senegal.

"These two wells offshore Senegal have the potential to radically alter the prevailing international view of the hydrocarbon potential of Senegal where no offshore wells have been drilled for more than 20 years," FAR Managing Director Cath Norman said in a statement.

The company said the drilling program will test an area that could contain as much as 1.5 billion barrels of oil reserves.

Cairn in January said frontier basins off the Senegalese and Moroccan coasts were key components of its exploration agenda for 2014.

West Africa has drawn interest from international energy companies eager to tap into unexploited reserves.

"The two well program in the Atlantic margin is being closely monitored by many international oil and gas players because of the large prospect sizes being drilled and the potential for numerous nearby follow up targets in the event of success," Norman said.