Total has bagged exploration and production contracts for the C15 and C31 blocks located offshore Mauritania from the country’s Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Mines.
Image: Total in Mauritania. Photo: courtesy of Total.
The deep offshore Mauritanian blocks are spread over an area of 14,175km, said Total.
As per the terms of the contracts, the French oil and gas giant will be the operator of the two blocks with a stake of 90%. Mauritania’s national oil company Société Mauritanienne des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Minier (SMHPM) will hold the remaining stake of 10% in the two offshore blocks.
The oil and gas major, which has been present in the Northwest African country for close to 20 years, has participation interest and operatorship across the C7, C9 and C18 blocks in Mauritanian waters.
Total said that combined with its participation interest and operatorship across C7, C9 and C18, the award of the new blocks consolidates its position in the emerging hydrocarbons basin offshore Mauritania.
Total exploration & production president Arnaud Breuillac said: “This agreement contributes to the implementation of Total’s strategy that aims to explore basins in proven yet underexplored petroleum systems.
“The addition of these new blocks to our existing positions demonstrates our commitment to the development of the Mauritanian oil sector and will enhance Total’s presence in West Africa, one of the Group’s core exploration areas.”
The company was awarded a 90% stake in Block C7 in May 2017, which spans an area of 7,300km2. In the C9 exploration license, which is spread across 10,150km2, the company has a stake of 90% as well. In the C18, Total holds a participating interest of 45% which was acquired in August 2017.
Total said that as per its exploration program, it has planned to drill a well on Block C9 in 2019. The French energy giant is also operator of the onshore Ta29 exploration block, that is spread across an area of 12,500km2, in the Mauritanian part of the Taoudenni Basin.
In another part of Africa, in Angola, Total and its partners inaugurated the Kaombo project, a $16bn deep offshore development located in Block 32, 260km off the coast of Luanda.