TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy have inked an agreement to acquire participating interests in Block 3B/4B, offshore South Africa. This move sees the partners taking over stakes from Africa Oil South Africa, Azinam (a subsidiary of Eco Atlantic Oil and Gas), and Ricocure.
Upon completion, TotalEnergies will assume a 33% participating interest and take on the role of operator within the block, while QatarEnergy will secure a 24% stake. The remaining interests will be distributed among current license holders: Africa Oil SA with 17%, Ricocure with 19.75%, and Azinam holding 6.25%. The completion of this transaction is contingent upon receiving the green light from the pertinent authorities.
The block in question, situated within the Orange basin approximately 200 kilometers (km) off the western coast of South Africa, spans 17,581 km2. It lies adjacent to the DWOB license, which is operated by TotalEnergies in collaboration with QatarEnergy and Sezigyn.
An oil and gas advisory firm, RISC Advisory, estimated the total Unrisked Gross P50 Prospective Resources at approximately 4 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in Block 3B/4B.
Kevin McLachlan, Senior Vice-President Exploration at TotalEnergies, said: “Following the Venus success in Namibia, TotalEnergies is continuing to progress its exploration effort in the Orange Basin, by entering this promising exploration license in South Africa.”
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of QatarEnergy, said: “The farm-in to Block 3B/4B builds on our presence in the prolific Orange Basin. We are pleased to enter this block together with our strategic partner TotalEnergies, and we look forward to working together with our partners and the relevant government entities in South Africa to further assess this block’s potential.”
TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy recently exited the Orinduik Block offshore Guyana, relinquishing their working interest to Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas.
