TotalEnergies has signed an agreement to acquire an additional 10,5% participating interest in block 2913B, and an additional 9,39% participating interest in block 2912 offshore Namibia.
TotalEnergies chief Patrick Pouyanné says the agreement strengthens the company's stake in the Orange Basin.
"This transaction not only increases our share in the Venus discovery and remaining prospectivity on these blocks, but also represents a key step toward the development of Venus by consolidating the partnership and securing financing of all partners, which will add value to all stakeholders," he says.
The agreement, which was announced earlier yesterday, gives TotalEnergies a 45,25% interest in block 2913B, and a 42,5% interest in block 2912.
The agreement is, however, still subject to third-party approvals from the Namibian authorities and joint venture parties.
TotalEnergies is currently in a joint venture with Quatar Energy and the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) in block 2912 under petroleum exploration licence 91.
It operates block 2913B under petroleum exploration licence 56 with the same partners.
Block 2913B holds the sought-after Venus discovery, which showed positive appraisal results from its Venus-1A well last year.
TotalEnergies acquired the additional shares from Impact Oil and Gas Namibia.
South African billionaire Johnny Copelyn owns shares in Impact Oil and Gas through his company Hosken Consolidated Investments (HCI).
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
This agreement will see Impact reimbursed through a US$99 million payment for past costs incurred for its interests in the oil blocks.
The agreement will also ensure that Impact Oil and Gas will be carried until it recieves its first sales proceeds from hydrocarbon production.
Following the agreement, Impact will still retain a 9,5% interest in each licence.
Roger Tucker, the chief of one of Impact's main investors, says the farm-out agreement supports the positive appraisals of the productivity of the blocks in the Orange Basin.
"The farm-out agreement allows Africa Oil to retain a very attractive growth opportunity in a major energy project.
"That is expected to add significant reserves and production to our portfolio from the late 2020s through the 2030s and beyond, without stretching our balance sheet or exposing ourselves to the execution risk on a large-scale deepwater project.
"It reinforces our view of TotalEnergies' confidence in the development outlook for the Venus oil discovery and the follow-on prospectivity of the two blocks," he says.
Africa Oil owns an approximate 25,2% equity interest in Impact Oil and Gas.
