Australia's Woodside has used its pre-emptive right to purchase 40% of Cairn Energy PLC's stake in the RSSD project (Rufisque, Sangomar and Sangomar Deep) on the shelf of the Republic of Senegal after reports of LUKOIL's intention to acquire this part.
According to Cairn Energy, Woodside used its pre-emptive right "on the same terms" as the proposed sale to LUKOIL.
At the end of July, LUKOIL announced that it had entered into an agreement with Cairn Energy to buy its stake for $300 million. In addition, there was a possible bonus payment to Cairn Energy PLC of up to $100 million after the start of production.
The total area of the blocks included in the project is 2,212 square km. The blocks are located on the deep-water shelf of the Republic of Senegal, 80 km from the coast. The sea depth in the area of blocks is 800-2 175 m. Two fields have been discovered within the blocks: Sangomar and FAN.
A final investment decision (FID) was made for the Sangomar field in early 2020 and work has begun on its development. The recoverable hydrocarbon reserves of the Sangomar field are estimated at about 500 million barrels of oil equivalent. The field is planned to be launched in 2023 with a projected oil production level of 5 million tons per year.
The RSSD project is implemented under the terms of a production sharing agreement. The project operator is Woodside with a 35% stake. Other partners are FAR (15%) and state-owned Petrosen (10%).
If no other parties to the project terminate the deal before August 26, Woodside will acquire the entire 40% stake of Cairn Energy in RSSD. The deal must be approved by the Senegalese government and Cairn Energy shareholders. The transaction is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Cairn Energy is a European independent oil and gas exploration and development company headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland. The company operates in the North sea, West Africa and Latin America.
Woodside is an Australian natural gas producer. It accounts for 6% of global LNG supplies.
LUKOIL has been developing projects in Africa since 1995. The main assets are concentrated in the Western part of the continent – in Ghana, Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo and Nigeria. LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov said at the beginning of the year that LUKOIL had identified West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico as strategic regions. Alekperov expected that joining the project in Senegal would allow him to gain additional experience in working on offshore fields in the region.
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Based on materials from Interfax