The blocks are held in a joint venture by Dynamic Global Advisors Kenya, a wholly-owned subsidiary of DEPCO with a 30% interest (15% after farmout) and Anadarko Kenya, an affiliate of Anadarko Petroleum, the operator of the blocks with a 70% interest.
Cove is paying $15.5m inclusive of acquisition costs, a reimbursement of DEPCO’s past expenditure on the blocks and funding for Cove’s and DEPCO’s forward work program during the first exploration phase, which extends to June 2012.
It is expected that this transaction will close in the third quarter of 2010 pending receipt of normal partner and government consents. In this respect, Anadarko has already given its preliminary approval.
John Craven, chief executive of Cove, said: “These blocks effectively cover from north to south most of the Kenyan deepwater acreage where we have identified on seismic data geological features that are similar to what we see in our existing interests in Mozambique and Tanzania.”
