French oil giant Total has acquired several assets located in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) as part of the Cobalt International Energy’s bankruptcy auction sale.
Total submitted offers on several assets for a consideration of approximately $300mn and has acquired a 20% interest in the North Platte discovery from Cobalt. As a result, Total has increased its interest to 60% and becomes operator of this discovery. Total will have Statoil as its partner, as the Norwegian firm acquired the remaining 40%.
Total has also secured a 20% interest in the Anchor discovery. As a result, Total increases its interest to 32.5%, after having acquired 12.5% last December. This discovery is operated by Chevron.
Total has also taken control of 13 offshore exploration blocks and will also run these assets.
On April 5, the United States Bankruptcy Court approved these deals.
“The sale of Cobalt’s assets gives us the opportunity to further enhance our portfolio in the Gulf of Mexico under particularly attractive conditions and to be able to apply our expertise as a deep offshore operator. We will now develop the North Platte discovery, looking for the most efficient scheme in terms of development cost”, stated Arnaud Breuillac, president exploration & production at Total.
Discovered in 2012 by Total and Cobalt in the Wilcox play, North Platte covers four blocks of the Garden Banks area, 275 kilometres off the coast of Louisiana in approximately 1,300 metres of water. The field is now fully appraised with a total of three wells and three sidetracks.
Discovered in 2014, Anchor is also located in the Wilcox play, 225 kilometres off the coast of Louisiana in approximately 1,500 metres of water. It is one of the most significant recent discoveries in the GoM. Chevron holds a 55% stake and Venari 12.5%.
