ExxonMobil Farms-in to Petrobras - TPAO Agreement Offshore Black Sea
Exxon Mobil Corporation and Petrobras announced today that an ExxonMobil affiliate signed an agreement with a Petrobras affiliate and the Turkish National Oil Company (TPAO) to explore for hydrocarbons in the deepwater Black Sea offshore Turkey.
Under the terms of the farm-in agreement, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Turkey B.V. will acquire a 25 percent interest in the Sinop, Ayancik and Çarsamba sub-blocks of the AR/TPO/3922 exploration license. Petrobras will retain a 25 percent equity interest in the block and will remain the operator. TPAO holds the remaining 50 percent interest.
"We look forward to utilizing the technologies and expertise of all three companies as we explore for potential commercial resources in the Black Sea," said Mehmet Uysal, CEO of TPAO.
"We are pleased to add this prospective acreage to our global portfolio and expand our presence in the deepwater Black Sea," said Russ Bellis, exploration director, ExxonMobil International Limited.
This agreement covers approximately 7.4 million acres and is subject to approval by the Turkish Government.
The announcement builds on an agreement signed between ExxonMobil and TPAO in November 2008 to jointly explore deepwater prospects in the Samsun block of AR/TPO/3922 exploration license and the eastern portion of AR/TPO/3921 exploration license in the Black Sea.
TPAO, Turkey's sole national oil company, was founded in 1954. Since its foundation, TPAO has made pioneering efforts in all branches of petroleum industry and implemented significant and strategic investments successfully. In addition to vast onshore and shallow water operating experience in Turkey, TPAO has interests in various projects in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Libya. In 2004, TPAO announced its objective to meet Turkey's increasing oil and natural gas demand through domestic and international exploration and production projects. Since then TPAO has significantly increased its domestic investments by setting a new exploration strategy by extending its activities to unexplored basins of Turkey, especially offshore. Visit
www.tpao.gov.tr.
Petrobras commenced operations in Turkey in 2006, when two blocks were awarded after bidding process for deep water exploration and production in the Black Sea promoted by TPAO. In the same year, the contracts were approved by Turkish authorities and Petrobras opened an office in Ankara. Since then, Petrobras has completed seismic surveys (2D and 3D) and is now prepared to start drilling its first exploratory well in the country.
Petrobras is an integrated international energy company present in 28 countries with strong presence in West Africa, Gulf of Mexico and Latin America. Petrobras is known as one of the global leaders in exploration and production offshore, chiefly in deep and ultra deep water environment. Petrobras has almost 15 billion oil-equivalent barrels of proven reserves and a daily production around 2.6 million. Visit
www.petrobras.com.
Published 12/01/2010
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