By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 6 -- Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Houston, has agreed to purchase all of BP PLC's interests in and assume operatorship of the exploration and production- sharing contracts in Blocks 12 and 13 in Qatar, including Al Rayyan oil field. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Anadarko first acquired a majority interest in these two blocks through the purchase of Gulfstream Resources Canada Ltd., Calgary, for $137 million (OGJ, July 9, 2001, p. 26). With this latest transaction, Anadarko increases its working interest to 92.5% from 65% and becomes the operator. Preussag Energie GmbH, a German company, holds the remaining 7.5% interest.
In conjunction with this purchase, Anadarko said it will boost its planned 2002 investment in Qatar from $80 million to $102 million to increase production by installing a permanent production platform and drilling additional horizontal development wells in Al Rayyan field on Block 12. When the expansion project is completed in early 2003, gross production is expected to increase from 12,000 b/d to 35,000 b/d.
Anadarko Pres. and CEO John Seitz said, "One of the main reasons for the Gulfstream purchase was to give us a presence in the Middle East that we could grow, and this will help us do that. We have a lot of unexplored acreage in Qatar that we'll be evaluating over the next few years. Block 13 contains about 180,000 unexplored acres, and Block 12?contains another 19,000 acres that are still prospective for exploration."
Anadarko's long-term goal is to establish a new core area in the Middle East, Seitz added.
