LNG News Editor:
Kosmos Energy, the US-based shareholder in the floating liquefied natural gas joint venture offshore the West African nations of Mauritania and Senegal, has acquired bigger shareholdings in oil and gas fields offshore Ghana from Occidental Petroleum of the US for $550 million.
Kosmos, a specialist in Atlantic Margin exploration and production and based in Dallas, Texas, said it acquired an additional 18 percent interest in the Jubilee field and an additional 11 percent stake in the Tweneboa, Enyenra and Ntomme (TEN) oil and gas fields offshore of Ghana.
Ghana’s stake
Ghana National Petroleum Corp. (GNPC) is also acquiring stakes in the same fields from Occidental for $200M and will be the main partner of Kosmos.
The new Kosmos focus on Ghana comes as FLNG projects being developed with UK major BP offshore Mauritania and Senegal in West Africa continue to progress and are centred on the Greater Tortue-Ahmeyim gas fields. The first Mauritania-Senegal FLNG production facility is scheduled to have first gas in early 2023.
“This is a compelling transaction for Kosmos that accelerates our strategic delivery and is expected to provide long-term sustainable cash flow from the Ghana fields where we have a deep understanding of the value and future upside,” explained Andrew G. Inglis, Chairman and Chief Executive of Kosmos.
“We expect the additional Ghana interests to generate around $1 billion of incremental free cash flow by the end of 2026 at $65 Brent with upside given current prices. We plan to use the additional cash flow from these assets to reduce absolute debt levels and fund our growth in LNG,” stated the Kosmos CEO.
Kosmos already produces oil and gas in Ghana averaging around 22,400 barrels of oil per day and per and natural gas offtake to the government of Ghana has increased to around 110 million standard cubic feet per day earlier in 2021.
This transaction with Occidental increases the Kosmos stake in the Jubilee field to 42.1 percent and in the TEN fields to 28.1 percent. The transaction is subject to a 30-day pre-emption period.
