Maersk Oil, a fully owned subsidiary of A.P. Møller – Mærsk A/S, has agreed to acquire a 15% interest in Block 16 in Angola from Devon Energy for an initial payment of USD 70 million and future contingent considerations. The agreement is subject to closing conditions including government approval.
Maersk Oil already operates Block 16, which includes the Chissonga discovery. Maersk Oil’s interest in the block would increase to 65%, with Sonangol (20%) and Odebrecht (15%) as partners.
“Acquiring Devon Energy’s interest in the block will provide Maersk Oil further materiality in Angola, just as the evaluation work on the Chissonga discovery gathers pace,” said Lars Nydahl Jorgensen, Head of Exploration at Maersk Oil. “It shows our confidence in the prospectivity of Block 16 and Angola as a whole.”
Maersk Oil is in the process of analysing the results from wells drilled at the Chissonga discovery to determine whether it is commercial and if further appraisal drilling is needed.
Future payments to Devon Energy are contingent on reaching a number of milestones and may ultimately amount to more than the initial payment.
Maersk Oil is operator with a 50% interest in two other licenses in Angola – Block 8 and Block 23, where an exploration well is planned to be drilled later this year.
About Maersk Oil in Angola
In June 2005, Maersk Oil acquired 50% interest and operatorship in the Production Sharing Agreement for Block 16, about 100 kilometers offshore Angola. Water depth in the block ranges from 200-1500 meters. In November 2006, Maersk Oil acquired a 50% interest and operatorship in the Production Sharing Agreements for offshore Blocks 8 and 23. Partners are Svenska Petroleum (30%) and Sonangol (20%). Water depth in Block 8 is up to 500 meters and in Block 23, up to 1,500 meters.
About Maersk Oil
Maersk Oil is an international oil and gas company with operated production of about 700,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from fields in the Danish and UK North Sea, offshore Qatar, in Algeria and in Kazakhstan. Maersk Oil exploration activities are ongoing in Denmark, UK, Norway, Angola, Brazil, the US Gulf of Mexico, Greenland and Oman. Maersk Oil and its subsidiary companies are part of the Danish A.P. Moller – Maersk Group. Maersk Oil was established in 1962, when it was awarded a concession for oil and gas exploration and production in Denmark
[mappress]
Source: Maersk Oil, January 31, 2011;