16th Jun 2015 07:39
LONDON (Alliance News) - Lekoil Ltd saw its shares rise early Tuesday after it got ministerial consent for its farm-in to the Otakikpo Marginal Field in Nigeria.
The company said the Minister of Petroleum Resources of Nigeria granted consent to complete the transfer of the 40% participating interest in Otakikpo to its Lekoil Oil and Gas Investment Ltd subsidiary.
Otakikpo is sited in a coastal swamp location in oil mining lease 11, adjacent to the shoreline in the south-eastern part of the Niger Delta. OML 11 is held by the Shell Petroleum Development Company joint venture which includes the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and units of Royal Dutch Shell PLC, France's Total SA and Nigerian Agip Oil Company Ltd. Otakikpo was awarded to Green Energy International Ltd by the Department of Petroleum Resources of Nigeria in 2011.
Lekoil paid Green Energy International a signature bonus of USD7 million when it signed the farm in deal in May last year, and a production bonus of GBP4 million is payable when certain production milestones are hit.
"Having signed the farm-in agreement with Green Energy last year, we welcome the progress that has been made to date and are delighted to have received ministerial consent ahead of first oil which is scheduled to begin in the coming weeks. Otakikpo is an asset with tremendous potential and I am delighted that Lekoil has been able to demonstrate its ability as a strong technical and financial partner," Lekoil Chief Executive Lekan Akinyanmi said.
Lekoil shares were up 11.3% at 27.00 pence in London early Tuesday.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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