Ophir Energy on Monday announced that it has entered into a head of terms agreement with Schlumberger in which the latter will take a 40% economic interest in the Fortuna project offshore Equatorial Guinea.

According to Share Cast news, the agreement which is expected to be signed in Q2 of 2016 allows Schlumberger to pay 50% of Ophir's past expenses in the form of a development carried interest and it is expected to cover Ophir's share of capital expenses till first sales of liquefied natural gas.

"Innovative partnering in the upstream is increasingly important to deliver world class projects that can create value throughout the cycle. Ophir's cost to first gas is fully funded by this transaction, and we can now evaluate the other funding and offtake proposals that we have received to select at financial investment decision the combination that creates most value for shareholders”, Nick Cooper (photo), Chief executive of Ophir Energy said.

He added that the company is likely to produce from 10,500 to 11,500 boe/d in 2016 less than the 13,000 barrels it produced in 2015, with the Kerendan gas field estimated to start adding to these capacities in H2 of the year.

Anita Fatunji