Qatar Petroleum enters two Total blocks off Ivory Coast

State-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) has entered into an agreement to acquire stakes in Total’s two exploration blocks offshore the Ivory Coast.

Qatar Petroleum said on Monday that it bought a 45 per cent participating interest in blocks CI-705 and CI-706 from the French oil major, located in the Ivorian-Tano basin.

The company said that the two blocks cover an area of approximately 3,200 square kilometres, and present multi-target hydrocarbon prospects in water depths ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 meters, 35 kilometres from shore and some 100 kilometres from nearby Foxtrot, Espoir, and Baobab fields.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, president and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said: “The acquisition of working interests in these two blocks marks an important addition to QP’s upstream portfolio in Africa, and represents the first investment for QP in Côte d’Ivoire [Ivory Coast]. Africa’s offshore is a key target area for QP’s international growth strategy.

“We are pleased to enter into this promising exploration opportunity with our long-term partner Total, an experienced operator with a historical presence in Côte d’Ivoire“.

QP did note that the farm-in agreement was subject to customary approvals by the government of the Ivory Coast.

It is worth noting that this is the second farm-in by Qatar Petroleum into Total’s blocks this month.

Namely, QP entered into three farm-in agreements to acquire about 30 per cent of Total’s participating interest in three blocks located offshore Mexico.

The blocks in question, Block 15, 33, and 34, are all located in the Campeche Basin and each of the farm-in agreements is subject to customary regulatory and other approvals by Total’s existing partners and the government of Mexico.