Woodside Petroleum Expands Focus in Africa with 50% Stake in Sierra Leone Exploration Areas

Woodside Petroleum, an Australian oil and gas company, has furthered its focus in Africa by acquiring a 50% stake in two deepwater, offshore exploration areas off the coast of Sierra Leone. The company has agreed to earn this interest in partnership with Repsol YPF, a Spanish company, and will pay half the costs of obtaining seismic data and interpreting this information during the initial exploration phase. This move is part of Woodside's efforts to expand its presence in Africa, where it already has onshore and offshore acreage in several countries, including Mauritania, Algeria, the Canary Islands, Kenya, and now Sierra Leone.

Key Takeaways:

• Woodside Petroleum has acquired a 50% stake in two deepwater, offshore exploration areas off the coast of Sierra Leone, marking its expansion into the country's oil and gas sector.
• The company will earn this interest in partnership with Repsol YPF, a Spanish company, and will pay half the costs of obtaining seismic data and interpreting this information during the initial exploration phase.
• Woodside's director of new ventures, Agu Kantsler, has stated that the company is looking to gain between five and seven deepwater exploration options in the region.
• Sierra Leone is considered an encouraging destination for oil and gas exploration due to its unique track record for a post-conflict country, according to the World Bank.
• Woodside sees the area as having good quality, deep marine reservoirs with significant hydrocarbon volumes, and aims to mature the area using its strong technical skills and competence gained in the deepwater off Mauritania.
• The company has also announced plans for further drilling in Mauritania, the Canary Islands, and Libya in 2004, as well as reviewing seismic data in Kenya before deciding on the next course of action.

Statistics:

• 3000 km²: the area Repsol YPF intends to cover with three-dimensional seismic data in 2004.
• 50%: the interest Woodside Petroleum has acquired in the two deepwater, offshore exploration areas off the coast of Sierra Leone.
• US$62 million: the value of Agip Mauritania B.V.'s share of the Mauritania assets, which Woodside gained a controlling stake in last month.
• 54%: the stake Woodside Petroleum will maintain in the Chinguetti oil field, the Tiof field, and the Banda gas site after onselling shares to remaining joint venture partners.

Sources:

• "Woodside Petroleum seeks to spread deepwater portfolio risk with new deal," by ASIA PULSE, published on January 5, 2004.
• Repsol YPF press release.
• Woodside Petroleum press release.