French supermajor Total has signed production sharing agreements with the Côte d’Ivoire state and national oil company Petroci for three new ultra-deep offshore licenses.
Total will operate the CI-514 license with a 54% interest, in partnership with Canadian Natural Ressources International (36%) and Petroci (10%). Total will also hold a 45% interest in the CI-515 and CI-516 licenses, alongside Anadarko (45%) and Petroci (10%). For each block Total will become the operator upon the first commercial discovery.
The licenses are located some 100 kilometres offshore Côte d’Ivoire and cover an area of 3,200 square kilometres with water depths ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 metres. The work program includes a 3D seismic survey of the whole acreage and one well to be drilled on each block during the initial three-year exploration period.
“Total is very pleased with this new exploration opportunity in Côte d’Ivoire’s ultra-deep offshore, a field in which our expertise is globally recognized,” said Marc Blaizot, Total’s Senior Vice President, Exploration .
“The so-called Abrupt Margin* theme that we will be exploring in this acreage is a core growth driver for the future. In particular, we are targeting the same theme in exploration licenses in French Guiana, where a promising discovery has already been made, and in Mauritania.”
Total is already present in exploration activities in Côte d’Ivoire as operator of the CI-100 deep offshore license with a 60% participation. This license covers a surface of 2,000 km2 in water depths from 1,500 to 3,100 metres. A complementary seismic campaign of 1,000 km2 was launched end 2011 in order to finalize the 3D studies of the whole permit. First exploration drilling is planned for end 2012.
[mappress] Offshore Energy Today Staff, February 17, 2012