22 December 2012, Sweetcrude, Houston – Houston-based supermajor, ConocoPhillips said it is selling its onshore and offshore operations in Nigeria to Oando Energy Resources, an arm of Nigeria’s Oando Plc, for about $1.79 billion.
Confirming this, Oando said it paid a $435 million cash deposit to ConocoPhillips upon signing the deal announced late Thursday.
The deal includes ConocoPhillips’ interest in onshore and offshore properties in Nigeria that produced 43,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day through October.
Onshore, Oando will take over a ConocoPhillips subsidiary which holds a 20% non-operated interest in Oil Mining Leases 60, 61, 62, and 63 as well as related infrastructure and facilities in the Nigerian Agip Oil Company.
The deal also includes a 17% interest in the two-train 10 million tonne-per-annum Brass LNG project in Bayelsa state.
Offshore, Oando gets a 95% operated interest in OML 131 and a 20% non-operated interest in OPL 214.
The assets hold a total of about 213 millions of barrels of oil equivalent of proved plus probable reserves.
“This potential transaction represents a transformational step forward for our company and is in keeping with our overall strategy to grow our portfolio of Nigerian-based assets by focusing on those opportunities that deliver high-quality growth in reserves and production,” said Oando chief executive Pade Durotoye
The transaction is expected to close by mid-2013.