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Total, Sinopec seal US$2.5b deal
Source: Agencies |
November 20, 2012, Tuesday
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TOTAL is selling a 20 percent stake in a Nigerian offshore oil field to Sinopec in a US$2.5 billion deal which will help the French oil group fund its ambitious exploration plans.
Total said yesterday that it has signed a deal to sell the stake in the OML 138 block, which produces 130,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent and contains the Usan field, which started production in February.
The French group said in September that it planned to sell assets worth between US$15 billion and US$20 billion in the period up to 2014 as part of a bolder approach to managing its business, which has seen it buy and sell assets more frequently.
Total, which is also selling its French gas network business, is ramping up spending on exploration to take advantage of the historically high price of oil, which averaged US$113.60 a barrel in the first half of 2012.
Nigeria is Africa's largest crude oil exporter, and oil companies operating there have long had to deal with attacks on their pipelines and staff, with the country's worst floods in 50 years seriously affecting their output over recent weeks.
Total's Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie said earlier this month that the group did not intend to disengage from Nigeria altogether.
"It doesn't mean we are scared and intend to start some kind of walking out of Nigeria," he said at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi. "Total is happy to develop its projects in Nigeria."
Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner, has also acquired energy assets in Britain and the US recently to boost foreign earnings, as a slowdown in China hit profits.
Other shareholders in the OML 138 oil block, 100 kilometers off the Nigeria's coast, include Exxon and Chevron.
Total said yesterday that it has signed a deal to sell the stake in the OML 138 block, which produces 130,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent and contains the Usan field, which started production in February.
The French group said in September that it planned to sell assets worth between US$15 billion and US$20 billion in the period up to 2014 as part of a bolder approach to managing its business, which has seen it buy and sell assets more frequently.
Total, which is also selling its French gas network business, is ramping up spending on exploration to take advantage of the historically high price of oil, which averaged US$113.60 a barrel in the first half of 2012.
Nigeria is Africa's largest crude oil exporter, and oil companies operating there have long had to deal with attacks on their pipelines and staff, with the country's worst floods in 50 years seriously affecting their output over recent weeks.
Total's Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie said earlier this month that the group did not intend to disengage from Nigeria altogether.
"It doesn't mean we are scared and intend to start some kind of walking out of Nigeria," he said at an energy conference in Abu Dhabi. "Total is happy to develop its projects in Nigeria."
Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner, has also acquired energy assets in Britain and the US recently to boost foreign earnings, as a slowdown in China hit profits.
Other shareholders in the OML 138 oil block, 100 kilometers off the Nigeria's coast, include Exxon and Chevron.
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