Total buys stake in Kurdistan field

27 August 2012

French oil major pays $48m for a 20 per cent stake in the Taza field

A subsidiary of France’s Total has paid $48m for Canada’s ShaMaran Petroleum’s 20 per cent stake in the Taza block, an oil concession in the Kurdish region of northern Iraq.

The deal will include the cash plus reimbursement for any costs incurred from 1 April 2012 until the closing date of the deal.

The block is located about 80 kilometres southwest of Sulaimaniyeh and exploration wells are already being drilled. The first well, Taza-1, is expected to be drilled to a depth of 3,250 metres.

The local Oil Search holds the operating stake of 60 per cent in the Taza concession with the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) owning the other 20 per cent.

The move by Total is expected to infuriate Baghdad as the central government frowns upon any international oil company conducting oil deals with the KRG.

The French company has already been warned that any investment in the Kurdish region would mean it would have to sell its 25 per cent stake in the Halfaya field.

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