Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Tullow Oil has formally concluded its long-awaited $2.9 billion (€2.19bn) sale of certain Ugandan assets to its two developmental partners, China’s CNOOC and French company, Total.
The conclusion of the deal results in Tullow becoming debt free and will allow it undertake a $2bn capital programme this year. Tullow has been looking to partly divest two-thirds of the Ugandan assets it acquired from Canadian company, Heritage Oil to CNOOC and Total for a couple of years, but the deal has been hampered by regulatory hold ups and red tape. However, the long-awaited go-ahead was given by the Ugandan Government in recent weeks.
Tullow chief executive Aidan Heavey said yesterday that the company — along with its two partners — now aim to drive the Lake Albert Rift Basin assets towards major production, going on to call them "one of Africa’s most exciting oil discoveries".
The news coincided with Tullow making an "encouraging" hydrocarbon find off the coast of Sierra Leone. Work at its Jupiter-1 exploration well — the third discovery by the company in the Liberian Basin — found a working petroleum system, producing gas and light oil.
Angus McCoss, Tullow’s exploration director, called the find "encouraging", saying it "provides further support for the stratigraphic play in the region".
The company will now engage in further testing in the basin, via drilling in its Mercury-2 well in Sierra Leone and Kosru-1 well in the Ivory Coast.
Despite yesterday’s good news from Tullow, the company’s share price fell by 4.4% in Dublin and 3.8% in London.
Elsewhere, Middle Eastern exploration company, Dragon Oil — which has its shares listed in Dublin — yesterday reported a 76% rise in full-year operating profits, to $856.2m, for 2011. The company, which also saw a 30% rise in oil production to 61,500 barrels per day, declined to comment on speculation it may be set to launch a takeover bid for British exploration company Bowleven.
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