Tullow Oil PLC ("Tullow") has announced signing of a Sale Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Ocean Pakistan Limited (OPL), part of the Hashoo Group, for all of its wholly-owned subsidiary's share capital, Tullow Pakistan (Developments) Limited. Tullow Pakistan (Develop-ments) Limited's portfolio includes five exploration licences, Block 28 (95 percent and operator), Bannu West (40 percent and operator), Kohat (40 percent), Kalchas (30 percent) and Kohlu (30 per cent). The transaction is subject to regulator and government of Pakistan approval.
Tullow Oil has been associated with Pakistan since 1989, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Tullow Pakistan (Developments) Limited, and has interest in five exploration licences. Activity in Pakistan has been focused on the Kohat and Kalchas licences where the Shekhan gas and condensate discovery was made in 2010. Currently, 2D and 3D seismic acquisition is planned in the Kohat licence and two wells in the Kalchas licence. Business Recorder on September 5, 2013 published an exclusive story that Ireland-based oil/gas Exploration and Production (E&P) Company Tullow Oil PLC is to wind up its Pakistan operations.
According to sources in the Petroleum Ministry the company in March 2012 took the decision to commence a process to sell its Asian assets to focus on its core African and Atlantic Margin strategy. British Petroleum (BP) and Malaysian-based firm Petronas have already wrapped up their operations in Pakistan. Tullow Oil is the third foreign firm seeking to liquidate its assets and leave the country.
Tullow has exploration, development and production interests across seven licences covering 13,171 sq km. Early in 2010, Tullow successfully completed the Shekhan-1 exploration well encountering 45 metres of net gas pay. In November 2008, the operatorship of the Kohat exploration licence was transferred to Pakistan Oil and Gas Development Company Limited, significantly reducing Tullow's in-country overheads with focus now on the group's existing high-impact exploration potential.
Tullow adopted a two-step process, whereby, in the first step PPL was qualified as a preferred buyer to allow PPL to carry out further due diligence before submitting a binding offer by mid-December, 2012. Tullow E&P assets portfolio comprises the following producing/exploratory assets: Block 9 (Bangora field) 30 per cent, block 3370-13( Bannu West); North Waziristan Agency, Bannu, Hangu, Kurram Agency 40 per cent, block 28; District, Kohlu, Sibbi, Hernai, Loralai, Barkhan 95 per cent, block 2969-7 (Kalchas); District, Dera Bugti, Rajanpur, Kohlu, 30 per cent, block 3371-10 (Kohat); District Kohat, Hangu, Peshawar, Orakzai Agency (Shekhan field) 40 per cent and block 2968-3 (Kohlu); District Kohlu, Dera Bugti and Barkhan.
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