MOSCOW (MRC) -- Total is seeking to sell stakes in a number of Angolan oilfields, in what is seen as an early sign of an expected wave of divestments by big energy companies from the West African country, reported Reuters with reference to industry sources.
Total could raise around USD300 million from the sale of its 20% stake in Angola’s offshore Block 14, which includes the Tombua-Landana, Kuito fields as well as a cluster of fields that make the BBLT project, the sources said.
Chevron-operated Block 14 produced around 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2019.
Total declined to comment.
The sale of Total’s stake in Block 14 is part of the company’s drive to focus on its larger and more profitable oil and gas fields in Angola, where it remains the largest operator, one of the sources said.
Last December, Total and its partners extended their production license in Angola’s giant Block 17.
Total and rivals including BP, Chevron and Exxon Mobil aim to sell tens of billions worth of oil and gas assets around the world in the coming years to reduce debt that ballooned following the collapse in oil prices due to the coronavirus crisis.
Those disposals are expected to include a number of stakes in Angolan oilfields, where production is generally more complex and expensive than other basins, the sources said.
For the European companies, the sales are also part of a long-term strategy to shift away from fossil fuels to renewable energy and power markets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Unlike most big oil companies, Total does not provide a clear divestment target.
HSBC analysts, however, estimate that Total will sell around 200,000 bpd of production over the coming decade to meet its target of keeping production unchanged until 2025.
As MRC wrote earlier, within the framework of its net zero strategy, Total will convert its Grandpuits refinery (Seine-et-Marne) into a zero-crude platform and will invest more then EUR500 mln into this project. By 2024 the platform will focus on four new industrial activities: production of renewable diesel primarily intended for the aviation industry, production of bioplastics, plastics recycling and operation of two photovoltaic solar power plants.
We remind that in November 2019, Total disclosed that itis evaluating construction of a new gas cracker at its Deasan, South Korea, joint venture (JV) with Hanwha Chemical.
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Total S.A. is a French multinational oil and gas company and one of the six "Supermajor" oil companies in the world with business in Europe, the United States, the Middle East and Asia. The company's petrochemical products cover two main groups: base chemicals and the consumer polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene) that are derived from them.
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