Energy company Hess has signed a $650m agreement to sell its interests in offshore Equatorial Guinea to Kosmos Energy and Trident Energy.
Net production from these assets averaged 28,000bpd of oil during the first half of this year.
Under the agreement, Kosmos Energy in partnership with Trident Energy will acquire interests in three exploration licences, as well as Hess’s interest in the adjacent Ceiba Field and Okume Complex assets.
The company will also be primarily responsible for exploration and subsurface evaluation, while Trident will focus on production operations and optimisation.
Hess operates the properties with an 85% paying interest. Tullow Oil owns a 15% paying interest, while the remaining 5% carried interest is held by the Republic of Equatorial Guinea.
Hess CEO John Hess said: “This sale is a further step in our strategy to focus our portfolio by investing in higher return assets and divesting more mature, higher cost assets.
“Proceeds from asset sales, along with cash on our balance sheet, are expected to fund the development of our truly world-class investment opportunity offshore Guyana.”
The transaction is set to increase Kosmos’ total gross acreage in the Gulf of Guinea by about 6,000km², adding to its existing 25,000km² position in offshore Sao Tome in the same petroleum area.
Furthermore, it will add about 13,500bpd of net oil production and is expected to generate about $120m of operating cash-flow a year.
The sale of interests in Equatorial Guinea is expected to close before the year-end.
