Lekoil buys Afren’s stake in block offshore Nigeria

Oil and gas company Lekoil has agreed to buy Afren’s stake in a licence offshore Nigeria.

According to the agreement, Lekoil will buy Afren’s 22.86% stake in the OPL 310 block, which contains the Ogo discovery. Lekoil will pay $13 million for the transaction.

Since Lekoil already owns a share in the block, the transaction, once completed, will lift its ownership in the licence to 40%.

Lekoil says that the deal should accelerate exploration activities and field appraisal planning, following a delay caused by “Afren’s insolvency and administration processes.”

Lekan Akinyanmi, Lekoil’s CEO, said: “The licence hosts world class exploration and appraisal potential at the Ogo field and also further upside potential in several other targets. Lekoil has a dedicated geological and geophysical team working on OPL 310 and in the coming months we expect to announce the interpreted results of the 3D seismic survey as well as the work programme as soon as it is approved by the relevant authorities.”