Tende Energy Plc has announced it has taken full ownership of Anglo Tunisian Oil & Gas (ATOG) following the acquisition of a further 90% equity interest in the company.
The acquisition consolidates ownership of a portfolio of three onshore producing assets in Tunisia’s Ghadames basin, one of which is operated by ATOG, and an offshore operated license in the Gulf of Hammamet, which contains the fully appraised Cosmos discovery. The acquisition has been supported by Trafigura, and complements Tende’s production and development assets in Nigeria and its forthcoming acquisition of the significant producing interests in Angola.
The portfolio in Tunisia is currently producing approximately 800 boepd from the three onshore licenses:
One operated by ATOG: Bir Nen Tartar (100% Working Interest);
Two operated by ENI: Adam (5% WI) and Borj el Khadra (10% WI);
The increased infrastructure capacity facilitated by the newly commissioned Nawarra gas pipeline ($1.2 billion investment by its owner) should enable increased production at the ENI-operated licenses, which were previously production constrained.
The portfolio includes the appraised Cosmos discovery, which ATOG operates and owns an 80% interest (ETAP 20%) in. The original discoveries achieved a combined flow rate of 5,700 bopd under well test and recently updated estimates provide an Estimated Ultimate Recovery (EUR) of 15-20 mmboe.
The license contains mapped but undrilled structures which provide significant resource upside and provide the basis for a significant offshore development hub. The Company is expediting plans for the development of the Cosmos discoveries, in conjunction with ETAP, and expects to submit an updated development plan to the Tunisian authorities in the coming months.
Quoted by Petroleum Africa, Bobo Kuti, CEO, Tende Energy, said: “We are pleased to have completed the acquisition of ATOG and look forward to growing production and cash flows from the portfolio, in particular bringing the valuable Cosmos asset onstream.
“We continue to progress the proposed acquisition of the Angolan offshore assets, working alongside our partner, Etu (formerly Somoil). The interests in blocks 18 and 31 represent significant future growth for the Company and are in line with the strategy to build our producing capacity.
“Our operations team is advancing and accelerating its work with NNPC’s upstream group, Nigeria Exploration and Production Limited, Baker Hughes and the joint venture COPDC team regarding the further development of OML 65 – initially focused on the incremental production from the Abura field. We are also continuing to undertake further appraisal work in OML 65 and look forward to providing further updates on our operational progress.
“Our focus is to increase production and cash flow by developing our portfolio of valuable projects while working to de-risk the unique set of exploration opportunities within the portfolio.”
Tende Energy is also working to make an acquisition in Angola having previously signed a legally binding SPA with Sonangol to acquire participating interests of 8.28% and 10% respectively in the producing Angolan offshore Blocks 18 and 31 and a 25% participating interest in the exploration Block 27. Completion is expected to take place in the second half of 2023, subject to customary conditions and approvals.
