Total has acquired Marathon Oil Libya Limited which holds a 16.33% stake in the Waha Concessions in Libya.
This acquisition will give Total access to reserves and resources in excess of 500 million barrels of oil equivalent, with immediate production of around 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) and a significant exploration potential across the area of 53,000 square kilometres covered by the concessions in the prolific Sirte Basin. The consideration payment for the transaction is $450mn.
“This acquisition is in line with Total’s strategy to reinforce its portfolio with high-quality and low-technical cost assets whilst bolstering our historic strength in the Middle East and North Africa region,” said Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and CEO of Total.
“It builds on the Group’s long-term presence in Libya, a country with very large oil and gas resources, and demonstrates our commitment to continue supporting the recovering oil and gas industry of the country.”
The Waha concessions currently produce around 300,000boe/d. Thanks to the ongoing restart of the existing installations and the resumption of development drilling, the output is expected to ramp up and exceed 400,000boe/d by the end of the decade.
NOC (59.18%), Total (16.33%), ConocoPhillips (16.33%) and Hess (8.16%) jointly own the Waha concessions. The Waha Oil Company, a 100% NOC-owned entity, operates the asset.
Total has been present in Libya since 1954. In 2017, the Group’s production was 31,500boe/d. This production comes from the offshore Al Jurf field (Total, 37.5%) and the El Sharara onshore area (Total, 15% on block ex-NC 115 and 12% on block ex-NC 186).
