Statoil Cedes Mozambique Offshore Stake
Statoil has relinquished its interest in the Area A5-A offshore licence awarded to it and two others in 2015 by Mozambique.
Results of Mozambique’s fifth licence round – covering 11 offshore areas, plus four onshore – were released by upstream regulator INP in October 2015; among other firms that secured acreage in the same round, Exxon Mobil and Rosneft picked up three large offshore blocks. Norway’s Statoil however has confirmed that its Dutch subsidiary has now pulled out of talks relating to the A5-A gas exploration and production licence, offshore Angoche, northern Mozambique after more than two years of talks.
Eni was awarded operatorship of A5-A with a 34% interest in 2015, with partners Statoil and Sasol each with 25.5% and Mozambican state upstream firm ENH with 15%.
Statoil’s interest in the area will be transferred to Eni, so the Italian operator's interest will rise to 59.5%. Statoil spokesman Erik Haaland however told NGW January 29: "The bid we made in 2014 was conditional on acceptable contractual terms. With the outcome we have achieved after more than two years of negotiations, and the current business environment, Statoil has made the decision to disengage from the negotiations. We believe this is the best time to disengage, to allow the authorities in Mozambique and the other parties in the block find another solution.”
Long saga
Statoil in August 2014 decided to relinquish its 90% interest in Mozambican offshore Areas 2 and 5, according to INP. The remaining 10% was owned by ENH. During 2011-13 Statoil had farmed out stakes to Tullow and Japan's Inpex, but subsequently ceded their interests back to Statoil.
To the north, Statoil is operator with 65%, partnered by ExxonMobil on 35% of the Tanzania offshore Area 2 licence, which has in-place gas resources of some 22 trillion ft3. Both firms are looking to an eventual monetisation of that gas through a land-based LNG export project at some stage in the 2020s, but there is as yet no target date for a final investment decision, and both have alternative opportunities.
Eni in June 2017 took final investment decision on Mozambique's first LNG project; it and partners have discovered some 85 trillion ft3 of gas resources in offshore Area 4; US independent Anadarko and partners have found some 75 trillion ft3 of resources in their offshore Area 1 licence; both consortia talk about developing onshore LNG ventures in the 2020s, using their offshore gas.