One of China's major oil producers has acquired a 20% stake in West Africa’s OML 138 oil block.
Sinopec, Asia’s largest refiner, has announced it will acquire a 20% stake in a Nigerian offshore oilfield for $2.5 billion from French oil major Total. The block will include the Usan oilfield, which began producing in February and is jointly owned by Nexen, Chevron and ExxonMobil.
According to Total, the stake represented less than 10% of the value of its Nigerian oil interests and was part of a plan announced in September to sell $15-20bn-worth of assets by 2014 to raise cash. Yves-Louis Darricarrere, head of Total’s oil drilling business, claims the sale will allow the company to “focus resources on the material growth opportunities” in its portfolio.
The acquisition is the latest in a string of purchases in developing countries made by Chinese oil companies and is slated to go ahead irrespective of Sinopec’s massive drop in refining profits.