Discover Exploration has agreed to farm out a stake of 35% in its production sharing contract (PSC) covering three offshore blocks in Comoros to Tullow Oil.
Image: Discover Exploration to partner with Tullow offshore Comoros. Photo: courtesy of num_skyman/FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
The three offshore blocks involved in the farm out deal undertaken by Discover Exploration are blocks 35, 36 and 37.
In this connection, the company’s fully-owned subsidiary Discover Exploration Comoros has entered into a binding agreement with Tullow Oil’s subsidiary Tullow Comoros.
As part of the deal, which will be subject to governmental consent, Tullow Oil will assume operatorship of the three offshore blocks.
Discover Exploration also signed an agreement to acquire 100% of Bahari Resources, its 40% joint venture partner in the offshore Comoros blocks.
Upon completion of the two transactions, Discover Exploration will own a stake of 65% in the Comoros PSC.
The UK-based oil and gas company said that the farm out to Tullow Oil marks the completion of the first exploration period. It said that the partnership is currently preparing to acquire a 3D seismic survey for the three offshore blocks.
Discover Exploration executive chairman Michael Blaha said: “We are excited that Tullow joins Discover in this highly prospective license. With its extensive deep water drilling expertise, Tullow is a strong partner for this venture. Together, we look forward to unlocking the significant potential of our Comoros blocks.”
The deep water Comoros PSC is spread over 16,063km2 and is in proximity to an estimated 200 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas in place discovered in Rovuma Areas 1 and 4 in Mozambican waters.
The stakeholders of Rovuma Areas 1 and 4 are Anadarko Petroleum, China National Offshore Oil (CNOOC), Eni, ExxonMobil, Mitsui, and PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP).
After winning the Comoros PSC in 2014, the UK-based oil and gas company along with Bahari, acquired and interpreted about 3,900km of 2D seismic data, and carried out various exploratory studies.
Discover Exploration, which was launched in 2013, acquired Hansa Hydrocarbons from an affiliate of Avista Capital in March 2018. Hansa Hydrocarbons is an oil and gas company having exploration, appraisal and development assets located offshore the Netherlands, Germany and Denmark.