Lukoil Seals Takeover of Congo Stake
Russia’s Lukoil has closed the purchase of Africa-focused New Age’s 25% stake in an offshore Congo-Brazzaville oil and gas project for $800mn, the latter reported on September 9.
The Moscow-based independent agreed in June to acquire the share in the Marine XII licence in all-cash deal last year. Italy’s Eni operates the acreage with a 65% position, while local state partner SNPC has 10%.
Spanning 571 km2 in waters 20-90 metres deep, Marine XII holds five known oil and gas deposits, two of which have entered production. The Nene and Litchendjili fields were launched in 2015 and produce 28,000 b/day of liquids and 1.7mn m2/day of gas, Lukoil said when it first announced the purchase.
Lukoil has been expanding in operations overseas to compensate for declining output in Siberia, with West Africa a key focus. It is already present in Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria.
New Age said it would use proceeds from the sale to shore up its balance sheet and reinvest funds elsewhere in Africa, including at the Marine III block in Congo-Brazzaville and the Etinde licence in Cameroon.