Exxon exiting declining African operations to focus on Mozambique LNG project
HOUSTON—ExxonMobil Corp. has closed a $407-MM sale of its operations in Central Africa's Chad and Cameroon to London-listed firm Savannah Energy Plc.
Exxon has been exiting African operations with declining crude oil production to focus on its massive liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique and on more lucrative operations in the Americas. It recently retired a platform in Equatorial Guinea and is preparing to leave that country.
Savannah acquired Exxon's 40% stake in the Doba oil project, which comprises seven producing oilfields with a combined output of 28,000 bpd, it said in a corporate filing.
The fields were producing 33,700 bpd when negotiations were disclosed last year. Exxon's stake was previously estimated to be worth $360 MM.
Savannah has operated in Nigeria and Niger. The British firm also will take over Exxon's 40% indirect interest in the Chad-Cameroon export transportation system, a 1,081-km (672-mi) pipeline and floating storage and offloading facility offshore in Cameroon.
Local energy companies in Africa have been buying mature fields from oil producers shifting to more lucrative projects elsewhere. TotalEnergies SE exited Angola earlier this year. Chevron Corp, Shell Plc and Exxon have retreated from Nigeria.
(Reporting by Sabrina Valle; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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