LONDON (Alliance News) - Exploration and production company Lekoil Limited said Monday it had made a first payment of USD3 million to acquire a participating interest in a licence area off the coast of Nigeria.
The payment is the first tranche of a total USD30 million which the company will pay to a subsidiary of Panoro Energy ASA to acquire the 6.502% stake in the OML113 licence block. The deal was first announced in June.
Under the terms of the agreement with Panoro, Lekoil has agreed to pay the rest of the consideration by October 31. If the balance is not paid by this point, Panoro has the right to either extend or terminate the deal, retaining the USD3 million paid and receiving an additional USD3 million from Lekoil.
In a statement, Lekoil said it was in advanced discussions with potential debt providers to fund the balance of the consideration. The company expects the deal for the licence block to be completed by November 9.
The transfer of the participating interest is conditional on consent being received from the Nigerian petroleum resources minister and the other parties with a share in the licence block.
OML113 is a licence block in the Benin Embayment along the West African Transform Margin, adjacent to area OPL310, where a subsidiary of Lekoil currently has a 30% stake. The block contains the Aje oil and gas field, where contingent resources were recently estimated to be 198.7 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).
Lekoil's share of the best-estimate contingent resources in the licence area will be approximately 25.3 mmboe.
Shares in Lekoil were trading at 44.06 pence Monday morning, up 0.56p or 1.3%. Panoro is not listed in London.
By Philip Nye; philipnye@alliancenews.com
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