Indago buys Anadarko's stake in block 30

11 November 2005
Indago, the company created to own the assets in Oman and Ras al-Khaimah formerly held by Australia's Novus Petroleum, has acquired a 100 per cent interest in onshore block 30 in Oman from the US' Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.
Indago, the company created to own the assets in Oman and Ras al-Khaimah formerly held by Australia's Novus Petroleum, has acquired a 100 per cent interest in onshore block 30 in Oman from the US' Anadarko Petroleum Corporation.

The concession is adjacent to block 47, which is already operated by Novus, and contains four fields with proven reserves of about 300 billion cubic feet.

'Individually, these are sub-commercial, particularly for a company of Anadarko's size,' says Bob Williams, founder of Novus and a major shareholder in Indago, in which the biggest stake is owned by London-based private equity firm Meridian. Indago, currently valued at about $350 million, is also planning a listing on London's Alternative Investment Market (AIM).

Among Indago's holdings is the West Bukha concession off the Musandam Peninsula, from where gas will be supplied to Ras al-Khaimah under a heads of agreement signed in February. 'This will need to be converted to a gas sales agreement, but we don't see that being a major issue,' says Williams.

An award is imminent on the contract to carry out front-end engineering and design (FEED) and detailed engineering on the development of the field. First gas is due in 2007 (MEED 30:9:05).

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