French oil company Total has sold its share in onshore Oil Mining Lease (OML) 29 in Nigeria to Aiteo Eastern E&P, a Nigerian company, for $569 million.
Together with the recently completed divestments of OML 24 and OML 18, Total’s share of sale proceeds from these three onshore Nigerian blocks amounts to over $1 billion.
“The sale of these non-operated onshore blocks in Nigeria is yet another example of our strategy of dynamic portfolio management, achieved at attractive valuations,” said Patrick de La Chevardière, Chief Financial Officer at Total. “These transactions also reduce our exposure to non-operated blocks onshore Nigeria, and allow us to focus on our core, operated developments, such as the Egina project.”
The Egina field (OML 130) development plan calls for 44 wells connected to a 330 meter-long floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel with a storage capacity of 2.3 million barrels. The design of the FPSO includes capacity for future developments of nearby discoveries. First oil is expected end-2017, with output reaching 200,000 barrels of oil per day at plateau.
As for Total’s remaining onshore acreage in Nigeria, the company holds a 10% stake in several onshore blocks in Nigeria via the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) Joint Venture alongside the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (55%), SPDC (30%, operator) and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Limited (5%).
Since 2010, Total has divested its interests in eleven onshore blocks to Nigerian companies, in line with the Federal Government of Nigeria’s aim of developing Nigerian companies in the sector.