Energy major TotalEnergies has entered an agreement to farm out a 40 percent participating interest in deepwater block OPL 257 to indigenous upstream firm South Atlantic Petroleum Limited, according to Oil & Gas Journal.
Once the transaction is concluded, TotalEnergies will keep a 50 percent operated interest in the asset. SAPETRO will hold 40 percent, while Nigerian oil firm Conoil retains its 10 percent holding. TotalEnergies initially took over as operator of the block following an asset interest swap with Conoil in 2025.
OPL 257 sits roughly 150 kilometres off the coast of Nigeria, covering an area of nearly 370 square kilometres. It lies beside PPL 261, where TotalEnergies and its partners, including SAPETRO, uncovered the Egina South field in 2005. That field is situated in water depths of 1,650 metres and crosses the boundary between both offshore acreages.
SAPETRO has indicated that the Egina South asset could deliver as much as 140 million barrels of crude oil reserves. The partners are preparing to drill an appraisal well on the OPL 257 side of the field in the coming months.
If the appraisal work is successful, the partners intend to produce the field through a subsea tie-back directly to the Egina Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel, which sits around 30 kilometres away.
Mike Sangster, Senior Vice President of Africa Exploration and Production at TotalEnergies, stated that deepening the partnership with SAPETRO opens the door for a rapid appraisal campaign and future development if results are positive. He added that the farm-out fits into the company's global focus on low-cost, low-emission developments that rely on nearby existing facilities.
Final closure of the farm-out agreement is dependent on standard closing requirements, including necessary regulatory approvals from authorities in Nigeria.
