Indonesia's PT Medco Energi Internasional Tbk (MedcoEnergi) has agreed to buy a subsidiary of Toronto-listed Chinook Energy Inc with participating interests in eight oil and gas work areas in Tunisia.
The deal is subject to approval from other partners in the blocks and the government of Tunisia and is valued at more than $114 million.
MedcoEnergi, Indonesia's largest listed oil and gas firm, previously held stakes in Tunisia's Durra concession and Anguid exploration area, but sold them off in 2011.
"We have recently met with the government of Tunisia and they have shown their strong support in welcoming us back to Tunisia to pursue oil and gas exploration and production opportunities," MedcoEnergi CEO Lukman Mahfoedz said in a statement on Monday.
"Upon completion of the acquisition, MedcoEnergi anticipates adding [proven and probable] reserves and oil-and-gas production by [up to] 12.3 million barrels of oil equivalent and 2,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOEPD), respectively," the statement said. Output from the assets is expected to reach approximately 16,000 BOEPD in 2018.
Of the eight work areas, two are currently being developed, four are exploration areas and two are in production. Five of the blocks (Adam, Sud Remada, Bir Ben Tartar, Jenein and Borj El Khadra) are onshore in the Ghadames Basin, where MedcoEnergi has a participating interest in Libya Area 47. Three of the blocks are offshore (Cosmos, Hammamet and Yasmin) in the Pelagian Basin.
MedcoEnergi announced last year that recent political changes in Libya had delayed its $900 million Area 47 project by two years to 2016.
The company currently has operations in Indonesia, Oman, Yemen, Libya, Papua New Guinea and the Gulf of Mexico.
