Global energy giants are considering a bid for 40% of Portuguese energy giant Gaupe Energy's shares in the Mopane oil field off the coast of Namibia.
The Zhitong Finance App learned that according to reports, global energy giants such as ExxonMobil (XOM.US), Shell (SHEL.US), Total (TTE.US), and Equinor (EQNR.US) are considering bidding for 40% of Portuguese energy giant Galp Energia (Galp Energia)'s shares in the Mopane oil field off the coast of Namibia. According to the report, Takaura Energy expects the Mopane oil field to contain at least 10 billion barrels of oil, and the potential value of the entire oil field may reach 20 billion US dollars or more.
Takaura Energy is currently working with financial advisors to sell half of 80% of its assets. The first round of bidding was completed in mid-June.
The Mopane field is located in the Orange Basin, an area that previously had several oil and gas reserves discovered by Shell and Total.
In April of this year, Gaura Energy announced that the oil well test results showed that the Mopane oil field had the potential to become an important commercial discovery, and the company's stock price rose sharply thereafter.
At the time, Takaura Energy indicated that it carried out test operations at the Mopane-1X well and the Mopane-2X well in January and March, respectively. The two wells were 8 km apart, and the flow achieved during the oil well testing period had reached the maximum allowable limit of 14,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, which may make Mopane an important commercial discovery.
It also added that the company found important lightweight oil columns in high-quality reservoir sand. In the Mopane oil field alone, hydrocarbon geological reserves are estimated at 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent, or higher.
Meanwhile, Gaopu Energy holds 80% of the shares in the Petroleum Exploration License No. 83 (PEL 83). The scope of this license covers the Orange Basin off the coast of Namibia, covering an area of nearly 10,000 square kilometers. This means that the Mopane oil field may become an important new revenue source for Takaura Energy.
As global energy demand continues to grow, the discovery of the Mopane oil field certainly provides an attractive investment opportunity for energy companies participating in the bidding. This series of developments shows the energy market's high interest in newly discovered oil fields and how global energy companies compete in exploration and development.
It is worth mentioning that French energy giant Total and its partners recently approved a $6 billion deep-water oil project located about 100 km (62 miles) off the coast of Angola, marking a further deepening of Total's commitment to African countries. The project, called Kaombo, plans to transform a very large crude oil carrier into a floating production, storage and unloading vessel (FPSO).