ONGC Videsh on Wednesday announced that it has signed definitive binding agreements with FAR Senegal RSSD SA for acquiring 13.7 per cent participating interest in the Exploitation Area (Sangomar Field) and 15 per cent participating interest in the Remaining Contract Area (Exploration Area) of Rufisque, Sangomar Offshore and Sangomar Deep Offshore (RSSD) Block, Offshore Senegal.
Woodside Energy (Senegal) BV (Woodside), Capricorn Senegal Limited (Cairns) and Le Société des Pétroles du Sénégal (Petrosen – the national oil company of Senegal) are other partners in the RSSD Block.
Also read: AK Gupta takes over as MD and CEO of ONGC Videsh
The acquisition by ONGC Videsh is subject to satisfaction of customary conditions precedents including approvals of Senegal regulatory authorities, FAR shareholders’ approval, non-exercise / waiver of pre-emption by joint venture partners and termination of certain third-party agreement. The Sangomar Field, currently under development, is located in the deep waters of Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea-Conakry Basin (MSGBC Basin), Offshore Senegal, covering an area of 772 sq km and is planned to go on production in 2023 under Phase-1 development.
![bl12ONGCjpg bl12ONGCjpg](/theme/images/bl-online/1x1_spacer.png)
The acquisition involves an upfront consideration of $45 million and contingent payments payable annually (capped at $55 million) depending upon the Brent Oil price from First Oil until the earlier of three years from First Oil or December 31, 2027. Total investment involved, including the development cost until the First Oil, is expected to be around $600 million.
Woodside is the operator of the block and has recently exercised its pre-emption rights to acquire the participating interest held by Cairns in the RSSD Block. Post completion of acquisition of Cairns’ stake by Woodside, Woodside will hold 68.3 per cent participating interest in Sangomar Field and 75 per cent participating interest in the Exploration Area while Petrosen will hold 18 per cent participating interest in Sangomar Field and 10 per cent participating Interest in the Exploration Area of the RSSD Block.
Also read: ONGC exits Sudan oilfields
The completion of the present transaction would mark ONGC Videsh’s entry into Senegalese offshore through a significant project under development and is consistent with its strategic objective of adding high-impact exploration and near-term production assets to its existing E&P portfolio, a statement by the company said.
The step to continue foreign acquisitions comes despite recent setbacks from some earlier attempts. ONGC Videsh is said to have completely lost out on the Farzad-B gas field in the Persian Gulf. The development was a significant setback as OVL had discovered this gas field in 2008 and along with its partners offered to invest $ 11 billion for developing it. OVL’s consortium that had Oil India and IndianOil had invested $ 100 million in this project.
OVL also recently exited from Sudan after sustained non-payment of dues since 2011. OVL’s Venezuela investment also fared badly with the crisis hit country stopped payment and dues swelled up to nearly half a billion dollar.
ONGC Videsh is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC), India’s largest international oil and gas E&P company. At present, ONGC Videsh has participation in 37 projects in 17 countries across the globe. ONGC Videsh is currently producing about 250,000 barrels of oil and oil equivalent gas per day and has total oil and gas reserves (2P) of about 587 million tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE) as on April 1, 2020.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.