Africa Oil, a Canadian oil and gas company, has completed a previously announced farm-in agreement for a 20% stake in Block 3B/4B in the offshore Orange Basin in South Africa from Azinam.
The transaction, which was undertaken by the company’s subsidiary Africa Oil SA in July 2019, was closed following the approval of the South African government.
Africa Oil said that it will assume operatorship for the exploration block. The other partners in the Orange Basin block are Azinam, which has retained a 20% participating stake, and Ricocure, which holds a 60% participating interest.
The offshore South African block spans an area of 17,581km2 and is contained in water depths in the 300-2,500m range.
According to Africa Oil, Block 3B/4B is situated along-trend of an emerging Mid-Cretaceous oil play where international oil and gas operators are looking to drill several key exploratory wells that could potentially become play-openers to create a world-class petroleum province.
Partners in the Orange Basin block have identified leads and prospects
The Canadian oil and gas company said that partners in the Orange Basin block, through an existing 10,020km2 3D survey that covers most of it, have marked an inventory of leads and prospects.
The partners, in the initial period of three years, plan to undertake regional subsurface review of existing seismic, geological, and engineering data. They could also include some select reprocessing of the existing 3D data, which could result in identification of exploration prospects and recommendations for subsequent renewal periods of the offshore block.
Africa Oil president and CEO Keith Hill said: “Together with our equity interests in Impact Oil and Gas and Africa Energy Corp., Africa Oil has a significant footprint in several emerging plays extending from South Africa to Namibia, where both Total and Shell plan to drill potential play-openers in 2020 and at the same time are increasing their positions in other blocks adjacent to Block 3B/4B.
“From existing 3D seismic surveys, we have identified number of similar prospects to those that the majors are targeting.”
Last month, Africa Oil wrapped up its previously announced acquisition of a 50% stake in Petrobras Oil and Gas, which owns stakes in certain producing assets in deepwater Nigeria.
