(RTTNews) - Africa Oil Corp. (AOI.TO) announced Monday an increase in its direct interest in Block 3B/4B, offshore South Africa, to 18%. The block, operated by French energy major TotalEnergies SE (TTE), lies to the southeast and on trend with a number of Orange Basin oil discoveries including Venus.
The Canadian oil and gas company with assets in Nigeria, Namibia, and Africa, and its subsidiary, Africa Oil SA Corp. or AOSAC, have completed a transaction with Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Limited and its unit Azinam Limited. Under the deal, Azinam has transferred a 1.0% interest in Block 3B/4B to Africa Oil. In consideration, Africa Oil has exchanged the shares and warrants that it held in Eco for cancellation.
The Africa Oil group now holds a direct 18% interest in Block 3B/4B.
On August 28, 2024, the company announced the closing of a farm down agreement for Block 3B/4B with TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy. AOSAC retained a direct 17.00% interest and transferred the operatorship of the block to TotalEnergies, for a maximum consideration of $46.8 million.
The company noted that AOSAC will have the benefit of exploration carry for the additional 1.00% interest assigned to it by Azinam.
Other partners in the block are: TotalEnergies with a 33.00% operated interest; QatarEnergy with a 24.00% interest; Ricocure with a 19.75%; and Eco with a 5.25% interest.
Africa Oil Chief Executive Officer, Roger Tucker, said, "This transaction is another step in delivering the strategy of increasing direct interest in Africa Oil's key assets, including our opportunity set in the Orange Basin, a region with high levels of industry interest and activity. We thank Eco Atlantic's management for their collaborative approach in working with us since 2017, and we look forward to further progress towards the drilling of the first exploration well on Block 3B/4B."
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