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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on August 14, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) is expanding its global footprint with its venture into Senegal, a country in West Africa, after buying a 30% stake in the Rufisque Offshore Profond exploration block.

According to Petronas, the purchase was formalised after its subsidiary PC Senegal Ltd recently signed a farm-in agreement with Total E&P Senegal SAS, a subsidiary of French multinational integrated oil and gas (O&G) company Total.

With the 30% stake purchase, Petronas said Total will maintain operatorship with a 60% stake, while Societe Nationale des Petroles du Senegal, or Petrosen, will hold the remaining 10%.

“The farm-in [agreement] is aligned with Petronas’ upstream strategy to grow its exploration portfolio in West Africa, where it is [the] operator of an ultra-deep water block in Gabon and [is] currently looking to explore further in the region,” Petronas said in a statement yesterday.

As for the Rufisque Offshore Profond block, Petronas said it covers an area of 10,357 sq km, offshore Senegal, with a water depth ranging from 100m to 3,000m.

The block is located in the vicinity of recent significant O&G discoveries in blocks, namely the St Louis Profond and Cayar Profond and Rusfique Sangomar OffShore Deep.

Once the interpretation of three-dimensional seismic data is completed, with prospects identified and evaluated, exploration drilling activities will commence in the Rufisque Offshore Profond block in 2019, Petronas said.

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