PetroNor, the Africa-focused, Oslo listed minnow, is close to obtaining statutory Nigerian government approvals to purchase Panoro Energy’s stake in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 113.
The Norwegian-founded company, which has significant UAE shareholders, had reported in September 2021 that the approvals had taken longer than expected and as such had agreed with Panoro(also a Norwegian minnow) to postpone the long stop date for completion of the transaction to 31 October 2021.
Since then, however, the regulatory authorities have approved the purchase, and “the minister may likely have signed it”, ranking Petroleum Ministry sources tell Africa Oil+Gas Report.
OML 113 contains the Aje field, located in shallow water offshore Lagos. It currently outputs less than 1,500Barrels of Oil Per Day (BOPD), a steep drop from about 3,000BOPD in 2019, but the field partners, including (in terms of profit share) Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum (41.875%), New Age Exploration(24.06%), EER(12.57%), and ADM Energy (9.23%), believe it could produce as high as 10,000BOPD, if gas handling issues are adequately addressed.
PetroNor wants to play a big part in addressing those challenges. It is keen on the partnership and wishes for a bigger stake in the project. It is purchasing a profit share of 12.2%, but intends to take the operational lead and even provide funding from its UAE shareholders.
OML 113 as a whole covers an area of 858km² in the western Nigeria offshore Dahomey basin, some 24km south of the coast and 64km from Lagos, in water depths ranging from 100 to 1,000 meters. The West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) intersects the northwest part of the license.
