Russian oil giant LUKoil joins Cote d'Ivoire offshore project

PanARMENIAN.Net - Russia’s largest privately held oil company LUKoil has acquired a 65 percent stake in an oil exploration and production project at block CI-504 off Cote d'Ivoire in the Gulf of Guinea, LUKoil said on Tuesday, June 11, according to RIA Novosti.

LUKoil acquired the stake from a private Nigerian company, Taleveras Energy, which will retain a 25 percent stake in the project. The remaining 10 percent in the project is held by the state-owned Petroci Holding company. LUKoil Overseas, a wholly-owned subsidiary of LUKoil, will be the project operator.

Block CI-504 is located in close proximity to the currently producing Baobab field. The area of the block is 399 square kilometers (155 square miles), and water depth ranges from 800 to 2100 meters (2,600-6,900 feet). In the south, CI-504 borders on block CI-205 which is already operated by LUKoil, according to data posted on LUKoil’s website.

The committed work program includes three periods, with the first exploration period envisaging “the interpretation of historical 2D and 3D seismic data as well as additional 3D seismic acquisition by January 2014,” LUKoil said in a press release. The two other periods cover five years in total and include the drilling of two exploration wells.

LUKoil already operates offshore exploration projects in the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire on blocks CI-101 and CI-401, with the company’s share at 56.66 percent, and CI-205 (63 percent) and CI-524 (60 percent).