Oando PLC’s acquisition of a 15% stake in two Agip deep offshore blocks, OML 125 and OML 134, has been awarded the ‘Best oil and gas deal in Africa’ by the EMEAFinance, at its annual Project Finance Awards held at the Hilton Tower Bridge Hotel, London on Wednesday 9 June 2010.
EMEAFinance is a publication of a United Kingdom based Exporta Publishing & Events that covers corporate finance events, news and deals in the Emerging Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) regions. The award seeks to recognise the best banks, teams and deals in the EMEA region.
The award is a recognition of Oando’s well marshaled entry into the upstream sector building a robust portfolio that are today producing and generating foreign exchange earnings for the Group and favourable returns for our shareholders.
In February 2008, Oando, through an international competitive bidding process acquired Shell’s 49.8% stake in OML 125 and OML 134, which was co-owned by Agip with 50.2% equity. The bid attracted international oil and gas companies such as British Petroleum, China National Petroleum Company, the Korean National Oil Company and Chinese National Offshore Oil Company. Oando won on both technical and commercial considerations.
The US$625.7 million transaction was guaranteed by international financiers; Standard Chartered, Standard Bank, BNP Paribas and Merrill Lynch. Standard Chartered Bank acted as financial Advisors to the transaction.
However, on 26th of March 2008, Agip exercised its pre-emptive rights to the deal. Oando had petitioned the Federal Government whose intervention gave rise to discussions with Agip leading to the acquisition of 15% of the oil blocks. The reduced stake notwithstanding, Oando became the first indigenous oil and gas company in Nigeria to have a stake in a producing deep offshore asset. With OML-125 producing approximately 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil from the Abo field combined EMEAFinance extols Oando’s strategic upstream investment.
Commenting on the award, Christopher Moore, Publisher & CEO, EMEAFinance said, Oando’s deal was submitted to us by a number of the banks that supported and worked on the company’s behalf to successfully fund this important project. We realize that this deal is transformational for Oando and we look forward to learn more about the group in 2010 and beyond’.
Already, Oando has commenced monetisation of this investment with its maiden crude off take at the Abo fields, the aggregate of which amounts to 730,000 net US barrels, generating revenue of approximately USD $49 million.
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