abce certificate
Friday, 05 December, 2008, 17:20 GMT | more >>

CNOOC Ltd may take stake in Akpo



By Upstream staff 

China National Offshore Oil Corporation Ltd (CNOOC Ltd) is reported to be buying a stake in the Total’s deep-water Akpo oilfield off Nigeria.

The Chinese offshore producer is believed to be acquiring the stake from Nigeria’s South Atlantic Petroleum, which is owned by ex-Nigerian Defence Minister Theophilus Danjuma.

Trading in shares of CNOOC Ltd on the Hong Kong Exchange were suspended on 9 January, reported Reuters.

A similar attempt by ONGC Videsh to buy the stake in Akpo failed after the Indian federal cabinet said that it was "too risky" to invest up to $2 billion in the project.

Akpo was discovered in 2000, and lies 200 kilometres offshore in water depths ranging from 1100 to 1700 metres.

Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie estimates Akpo has condensate reserves of over 600 million barrels and commercial natural gas reserves of 2.5 trillion cubic feet.

In May 2005, Total said Akpo would come on stream in late 2008 and was forecast to reach peak production of 225,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Total holds a 24% interest in the OML 130. Other partners are South Atlantic, NNPC and Petrobras.


Monday, 09 January, 2006, 02:31 GMT  | last updated: Monday, 09 January, 2006, 02:31 GMT

e-mail this article to a colleague


to email:  from:
comments: