Roc Oil (Mauritania) Company and Roc Oil (Chinguetti) B.V., each wholly owned subsidiaries of ROC, have agreed to sell all of their respective interests offshore Mauritania to Tullow Mauritania Ltd, Tullow Petroleum (Mauritania) Pty Ltd and Tullow Chinguetti Production Pty Ltd, wholly owned subsidiaries of Tullow Oil plc (Tullow), for US$4 million subject to working capital adjustments. ROC has interests of between 2.00% and 5.49% in offshore Mauritanian blocks, including a 3.25% interest in the producing Chinguetti oil field. The divestment will take place through the sale of three separate packages. The effective date of the sale is 1 January 2011.
The agreement and completion of each separate package is subject to normal industry terms and conditions, including the receipt of relevant joint venture waivers or approvals and all necessary government approvals. Completion of the sale for all of ROC's interests may not take place during 2011 due to issues associated with the approval process.
Commenting on the sale, ROC’s Chief Executive Officer, Alan Linn, stated:
"The sale of offshore Mauritanian interests signals the final element of ROC’s objective to exit or farm down its African acreage exposure. The exit from Africa will allow ROC to redeploy capital and resources to pursue opportunities more consistent with the Company’s strategy to generate future growth through exploration, appraisal and pre-development opportunities located in the focus regions of China, South East Asia and Australasia. The recent award of the Balai Cluster Small Field Risk Service Contract in Malaysia is an example of how ROC is successfully pursuing this strategy."
