Total, a French transnational oil corporation that is also very active in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’s gold pot, has acquired Marathon Oil Libya Limited which holds a 16,33per cent stake in the Waha Concessions in the North African country.
This acquisition will give Total access to reserves and resources in excess of 500 million barrels of oil equivalent, with immediate production of around 50.000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) and a significant exploration potential across the area of 53.000 square kilometers covered by the Concessions in the prolific Sirte Basin. The consideration payment for the transaction is 450 million US dollars.
“This acquisition is in line with Total’s strategy to reinforce its portfolio with high quality and low-technical cost assets whilst bolstering our historic strength in the Middle East and North Africa region,” said Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of Total.
Adding, he said, “It builds on the Group’s long-term presence in Libya, a country with very large oil and gas resources, and demonstrates our commitment to continue supporting the recovering oil and gas industry of the country.”
The Waha Concessions currently produce around 300.000 boe/d. Thanks to the on-going restart of the existing installations and the resumption of development drilling, the output is expected to ramp up and exceed 400.000 boe/d by the end of the decade.
The NOC (59.18 per cent), Total (16.33 per cent), ConocoPhillips (16.33 per cent) and Hess (8.16 per cent) jointly own the Waha Concessions. The Waha Oil Company, a 100 per cent NOC owned entity, operates the asset.
Total has been present in Libya since 1954. In 2017, the Group’s production was 31.500 boe/d. This production comes from the offshore Al Jurf field (Total, 37.5 per cent) and the El Sharara onshore area (Total, 15 per cent on block ex-NC 115 and 12 per cent on Block ex-NC 186).
Total’s ambition to become a responsible energy major. This means that they are committed to providing tangible solutions. The industry is however, facing three key challenges: meeting the energy needs of a growing population, contributing to limit climate change and reinventing the customer relationship.
