By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, June 10 -- BHP Billiton Petroleum Great Britain Ltd., a unit of BHP Billiton Ltd., has acquired a 90% stake in Block 3B/4B off the western coast of South Africa from Global Offshore Oil Exploration (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd., a unit of Global Energy Holdings LLC, Littleton, Colo. Earlier this year, the South African government granted final approval to the farmouton the block to Global (OGJ, Mar. 4, 2002, p. 36).
South African authorities approved the deal effective May 10; Global will retain a 10% working interest in the block.
The block's partners have identified a new oil play concept in the Orange basin. They added that technical studies of seismic and geological data have confirmed the existence of a large structure, named Pinotage, which is 272 sq km and is in 600 m of water.
The agreement has an initial period of 18 months, which may be followed by three optional periods, which would extend the agreement to 7.5 years. Block 3B/4B covers 28,839 sq km and lies in 300-2,500 m of water. Neighboring blocks are held by Sasol Petroleum International and Forest Exploration International (South Africa) (Pty.) Ltd.
Recently, a 2D prospecting seismic survey covering 2,750 line-km was recently completed over the block. "The new information will play an important role in BHP Billiton's exploration efforts in the area," BHP said.
