Page 6 - AfrOil Week 29 2022

AfrOil INVESTMENT AfrOil

Afentra to buy stakes in Block 3/05, 3/05A

ANGOLA AIM-LISTED Afentra revealed on July 19 that it to Afentra’s books and will also boost produc-
had arranged to acquire minority stakes in Block tion by around 4,680 barrels per day (bpd), the
3/05 and Block 3/05A, both located offshore statement said. As such, it noted, the company
Angola, from Croatia’s Industrija Nafte (INA). should be able to recoup its investment in less
In a statement, Afentra reported that its than three years, assuming that world oil prices
wholly owned subsidiary Afentra (Angola) average $75 per barrel or higher.
Ltd had signed a sales and purchase agreement The assets in question generated $5.3mn in
(SPA) covering the stakes in the two licence EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depre-
areas with INA. It said the total value of the ciation and amortisation) in the year ending on
deal might reach $33mn and said it intended to December 31, 2021, it added.
finance the acquisitions with a combination of Block 3/05 and Block 3/05A are both shal-
its own cash reserves and debt financing. low-water sites located in the Lower Congo
The smaller of the two assets in question is a basin. The former is home to eight mature oil-
5.33% stake in Block 3/05A. Afentra has agreed fields discovered by Elf Aquitaine (now part
to make an initial payment of $3mn for this of France’s TotalEnergies) in the 1980s. It held
stake, along with contingent payments of up approximately 100mn barrels of crude in proven
to $5mn, depending on the outcome of future and probable (2P) reserves as of the end of 2021
exploration campaigns and fluctuations in and yielded 17,000 bpd on average last year.
global crude oil markets. After Afentra finishes its acquisition, equity
Commercial finds at Block 3/05A could be in Block 3/05 will be split between Sonangol
connected to production infrastructure at the (operator, 30%), Afentra (24%), Maurel & Prom
adjacent Block 3/05 via tie-backs, the statement (France, 20%), Eni (12%), Somoil (Angola, 10%)
noted. This is relevant because Afentra is already and NIS-Naftagas (Serbia, 4%). ™
a shareholder in Block 3/05, as it arranged to
purchase a 20% stake in the production-shar-
ing contract (PSC) covering the site earlier this
year from Angola’s national oil company (NOC)
Sonangol. (The PSC had originally been due to
expire in 2025, but it was extended until 2040
as a pre-condition to the deal between Sonangol
and the AIM-listed firm.)
Meanwhile, Afentra will also raise its stake
in Block 3/05 under its SPA with INA. The new
deal provides for the Croatian firm to sell its 4%
stake in Block 3/05 to the AIM-listed firm for an
initial sum of $9mn, plus an additional payment
of $10mn to be made once the licence for the site
is extended. INA will also be entitled to contin-
gent payments of up to $6mn, or up to $2mn per
year over a period of three years, depending on
fluctuations in global crude oil prices.
These two acquisitions are expected to add
24mn barrels in proven and probable reserves Afentra’s stake in Block 03/05 will rise to 24% (Image: Afentra)

DRC expands upcoming licensing

round to include 14 more blocks

DEM. REP. OF CONGO THE Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has a Twitter post on July 18. Budimbu wrote that his
increased the number of blocks included in an ministry intended to start accepting bids for all
upcoming licensing round from 16 to 30. 30 blocks, including 27 potentially oil-bearing
The change was announced by the country’s blocks and three potentially gas-bearing blocks
Minister of Hydrocarbons, Didier Budimbu, in in Lake Kivu, on July 28-29.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 29 20•July•2022