This is great news to hear.
I wonder why they finally gave them up without a fight after decades of holding on to them.
When the rules changed, permit holders like Chevron and ExxonMobil were supposed to negotiate with the minister of natural resources to convert them into exploration licences "within a prescribed time," but "did not do so," the groups claimed.
Those claims were never challenged as permit holders voluntarily surrendered their licences, resulting in the legal challenge being discontinued last year.