UK-based Bowleven Oil & Gas said on June 7 that its partner New Age (African Global Energy), a private firm with headquarters in London, had arranged to transfer operatorship of the Etinde field offshore Cameroon to the British-French company Perenco.

In a statement, Bowleven explained that New Age had signed a definitive conditional agreement on the deal with a Perenco subsidiary. Under this agreement, it said, New Age is slated to transfer to Perenco all of its participating interest in Etinde, as well as its operatorship of the joint venture set up to develop the licence area.

The handover would give New Age a stake of 37.5% in the shallow-water offshore field, with the remaining equity split between Lukoil (Russia) with 37.5% and Bowleven with 25%.

The statement did not reveal the value of the deal. It did say, though, that the transfer would not go through until Perenco secured the necessary approvals from the government of Cameroon and from New Age’s partners in the joint venture. Both Bowleven and Lukoil will have 30 days to decide whether they wish to pre-empt the transfer, the statement noted.

It also pointed out that the proposed transfer would not affect Bowleven’s right to a payment of $25mn related to the Etinde project. The company is slated to receive $25mn upon final investment decision (FID) from the other partners in the joint venture, which will include Etinde if the proposed transfer is carried out, it explained.

Eli Chahin, the CEO of Bowleven, said he expected Perenco’s involvement in Etinde project to benefit the project.

“The prospect of Perenco becoming our partner and operator at the Etinde permit is very positive news,” Chahin said in the statement. “We believe that Perenco’s proven Cameroon oil and gas developments and substantial experience provide an opportunity to accelerate our efforts to secure FID and the associated $25mn payment to Bowleven. We look forward to engaging with Perenco, and we will update shareholders in relation to Etinde developments in due course.”

The African Energy Chamber (AEC) also hailed Perenco’s decision to join the Etinde project, saying that the Anglo-French company’s existing assets in Cameroon’s offshore zone, including the Kribi LNG plant, made it a good fit. NJ Ayuk, the executive chairman of AEC, said he hoped that the new operator would use gas from the field to support domestic gasification initiatives, as well as export programmes.

“We strongly welcome the change of operatorship in the Etinde field,” Ayuk said. “Perenco is a tried, true and tested operator and has shown operational excellence in the country. We hope that Perenco, a company that knows the region very well, will be able to fast-track development of the Etinde field, as well as the field’s surrounding prospects. We look very much forward to seeing Perenco expedite the prospects for local, African gas development, as well as the development of gas for export markets, particularly to Europe.”

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