Tullow Oil sells interest in African field for €293m

Tullow Oil has sold its 11% interest in the onshore M'Boundi field in Congo to the Korea National Oil Company (KNOC) for $435m (€293m).

The deal, which will involve the sale of Tullow's subsidiary company Tullow Congo Limited, is subject to approval from the government of Congo and has an effective date of December 1, 2007.

The M'Boundi field was discovered in May 2001.

Tullow said today the deal provides it with the "financial flexibility to advance its appraisal and development programmes in Ghana and Uganda" and to continue the development of its business.

Tullow boss Aidan Heavey said: "The sale of M'Boundi, as part of our portfolio management strategy, provides Tullow with an opportunity to focus resources in core growth areas through monetising a valuable non-core asset. M'Boundi is a quality asset and this is an excellent transaction for both Tullow and KNOC".