Chevron Mauritania Exploration has agreed to acquire a 30% non-operated working interest in blocks C8, C12 and C13, located offshore Mauritania, from Kosmos Energy.
Kosmos Energy will retain a 60% stake in the blocks, which are contiguous and have combined acreage of around 27,200km².
The company remains operator of the blocks, which range in water depths of between 1,600m and 3,000m.
The transaction is subject to approval from the Mauritania Government.
Mauritania’s national oil company Société Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Minier will continue to hold a 10% stake.
Chevron will become operator of the blocks, maintaining a 30% working interest, following any commercial discovery during the exploration phase.
Kosmos Energy chairman and CEO Andrew Inglis said: “This agreement with Chevron validates the quality and scale of our Mauritania licenses, which enabled us to successfully farm out the acreage despite the current environment.
“The terms are consistent with our business strategy of retaining operatorship through exploration and collaborating with industry leading partners who bring significant technical expertise and strong financial capabilities.”
Kosmos has held rights to undertake exploration in the C8, C12 and C13 contract areas since 2012 under production sharing contracts with the Government of Mauritania.
The company’s 2015 exploration work programme in Mauritania presently includes the drilling of two wells using the Atwood Achiever drill-ship.
The first exploration well will test the Tortue prospect, with estimated resources of around two billion barrels of oil equivalent recoverable across both Mauritania and Senegal.
A second exploration well will test the Marsouin prospect with estimated resources of approximately 300 million recoverable barrels of oil equivalent.
Image: Chevron Mauritania Exploration will acquire a 30% non-operated working interest in blocks C8, C12 and C13, offshore Mauritania. Photo: courtesy of Chevron Corporation.
