Lekoil increases stake at Nigerian asset

London-headquartered Lekoil is buying independent oil company Afren’s 22.8-percent stake in the OPL 310 asset in Nigeria for $13 million.

The field houses the Ogo-1 discovery, which contains an estimated 774 million barrels of oil equivalent in a water depth of 100 metres. Ogo was discovered in 2013, but the development project was moving slowly due to Afren’s insolvency.

Lekoil’s total interest increases to 40 percent with the acquisition and it now expects the results of the field’s seismic survey. Recently completing a separate deal for a 62-percent stake in the neighboring OPL 325 field, the company is eyeing increased production from its Nigeria fields.

First in the company’s line-up for production in Nigeria is the Otakikpo field, which will have a peak production level of 10,000 barrels per day.

The company flowed oil from the field in September at a successful production test.

Lekoil’s shares were up 6.5 percent to a year’s high in the London Stock Exchange today, following a morning buy rating from UK-based Mirabaud’s analysts. The company’s shares are expected to reach 147 percent of its current buy rate.

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