LONDON (Alliance News) - SEPLAT Petroleum Development Co PLC on Thursday said it has snapped up stakes in two oilfields in Nigeria from the local unit of US energy group Chevron Corp.
SEPLAT will pay a total of USD391.6 million to buy the stakes in the OML 53 and OML 55 fields, both located onshore Nigeria.
It will pay USD259.4 million to buy a 40% working interest in OML 53, split between an upfront payment of USD69 million and USD190.4 million at completion.
For OML 55, the company has paid USD132.2 million to buy 56.25% of the share capital of Nigeria-listed special purpose vehicle Belemaoil Producing Ltd, which owns a 40% stake in the licence. SEPLAT's effective working interest in the licence will be 22.5%.
The remainder of the interest in both licences is owned by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company, the state-owned oil business.
"We very much look forward to working with NNPC and leveraging our technical and commercial expertise as Operator to realise the full potential of this high grade acreage," said SEPLAT Chief Executive Officer Austin Avuru.
Shares in SEPLAT were up 0.6% to 135.25 pence.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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Seplat Energy (SEPL)