Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas has completed the farm-down of a 60% participating interest in its three offshore Namibia exploration licenses to bp, which has taken over as operator. The deal closed after Namibia’s minister of industries, mines and energy signed the transfer and renewal deeds on Nov. 9, moving the licenses into their next exploration period.
The licenses are PEL97 (Block 2012A, the Cooper License), PEL99 (Blocks 2111B and 2211A, the Guy License) and PEL100 (Blocks 2211B and 2311A, the Tamar License). In each, bp holds 60%, Eco 25%, NAMCOR 10% and a local partner 5%.
Eco will receive $2.7 million in cash on Nov. 16. bp will carry Eco’s 25% interest, along with Eco’s proportionate share of the NAMCOR and local partner interests, through the current exploration phase. The government-approved work program includes seismic reprocessing on PEL97 and acquisition of at least 3,000 km² of new 3D seismic data on PEL99 and PEL100, which is expected to start in the coming weeks.
If the partners enter the second renewal period in 2028 and commit to an exploration well, Eco can transfer another 10% interest to BP in exchange for a full carry on its remaining 15%. That carry is capped at $21 million per well on each license, or up to $63 million across all three. Eco can also choose to keep its 25% paying interest or farm out to other partners.
“This transaction once again evidences our ability to execute our strategy of derisking our portfolio through partnerships with IOCs and experienced operators while continuing to hold material exposure to prospective acreage with substantially reduced financial commitments,” said Gil Holzman, president and CEO of Eco Atlantic.
Source: worldoil.com