MOSCOW (MRC) -- Lukoil has entered into an agreement to acquire a 50% operator interest in the Area 4 offshore project in Mexico through the acquisition of the operator's holding company, said the Russian oil company.
"The transaction value is USD435 million plus expenditures incurred in 2021 as of the transaction completion date. The completion of the transaction is subject to certain conditions, including approval by the Mexican authorities," Lukoil said.
The project includes two plots with a total area of ??58 sq. km, located on the shelf of the Gulf of Mexico, 42 km from the coast. The sea depth in the area of ??the blocks is 30-45 m. Within the blocks there are two oil fields Ichalkil and Pokoch with recoverable hydrocarbon reserves of 564 million barrels of oil equivalent, of which more than 80% is oil.
Currently, the development of the fields is being completed, the start of production is scheduled for the third quarter of 2021. The project is being implemented in three phases with an expected maximum daily production of more than 115,000 barrels of oil equivalent.
The project is being implemented under the terms of a production sharing agreement signed in 2016 for a period of 25 years with the possibility of extension for up to 10 years. The partner in the project is the oil and gas company PetroBal (part of the Mexican conglomerate GrupoBAL) with a 50% participation interest.
As MRC reported earlier Lukoil plans to restore investments at pre-crisis levels in 2022, as President and co-owner of Lukoil Vagit Alekperov said in an interview with TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June.
Amid the recovery in the price environment, Lukoil has increased the target for the volume of capital expenditures in 2021 compared to the initial forecast. Now it is Rb460-490 billion, excluding the service project "West Qurna - 2". Previously, the target for capital expenditures was Rb450 billion.
It was also reported that Lukoil plans to invest about USD3 billion in petrochemical projects in the next 6 years, V. Alekperova also told reporters in June. At the same time, the company does not plan to adopt a separate petrochemical strategy, he said then.
Lukoil is one of the leading vertically integrated oil companies in Russia. The main activities of the company include operations for the exploration and production of oil and gas, production and sale of petroleum products. Lukoil is the second largest privately-owned oil company in the world in terms of proven hydrocarbon reserves. The structure of Lukoil includes one of the largest petrochemical enterprises in Russia - Stavrolen.
MRC