TotalEnergies Sells SAPETRO 40% of Offshore Nigerian Block OPL257, Clearing the Way for Egina South Appraisal
TotalEnergies is bringing a long-time partner deeper into Nigeria’s deep offshore. The company has signed a farm-out agreement to sell a 40% participating interest in block OPL257 to South Atlantic Petroleum Ltd. (SAPETRO), setting up an appraisal campaign on the Egina South field.
When the deal closes, TotalEnergies will hold a 50% operated interest in OPL257, with SAPETRO at 40% and Conoil at 10%. The block lies about 150 kilometres offshore Nigeria, next to block PPL261. TotalEnergies (24%) and its PPL261 partners, including SAPETRO, discovered Egina South in 2005, and the field straddles both blocks.
An appraisal campaign on the OPL257 side of the field will begin in the coming months. It is meant to support a possible development of Egina South as a tie-back to the Egina floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, about 30 kilometres away. A tie-back links a new field to production facilities that already exist, which usually costs less than building a standalone platform.
“TotalEnergies is pleased to have SAPETRO as a partner in OPL257 as well as in the adjacent PPL261 block,” said Mike Sangster, senior vice president for Africa exploration and production at TotalEnergies. “Consolidating our long-term partnership paves the way for a quick appraisal campaign and subsequent development of Egina South in the success case.” He added: “For TotalEnergies, this is consistent with our strategy to develop low-cost, low-emission resources while leveraging existing facilities.”
Completion of the transaction is subject to customary conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Source: worldoil.com, energy-pedia.com
