BP on Monday agreed to buy an operating interest in three offshore exploration blocks in Namibia from Canada-based Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas as it ramps up its upstream portfolio.
BP will pay Eco Atlantic US$2.7 million in cash for the 60 per cent interest in the three petroleum exploration licences, the Canadian firm said.
The oil major has turned its focus back to oil and gas after an ill-fated foray into renewables, pledging to dispose $20 billion worth of assets and cut its debt to between $14 billion-$18 billion by end-2027.
BP has been under pressure to publish more information to prove its strategy of shifting spending from low-carbon to oil and gas projects will boost shareholder value.
The deal marks BP’s entry as an operator in the southern African country, a global oil and gas exploration hot spot which hopes to produce its first oil by 2030.
The blocks are located in the Walvis Basin, a vast area north of the prolific Orange Basin where all of Namibia’s offshore discoveries have been made by oil majors including Shell and TotalEnergies.
Eco Atlantic will remain a partner in the blocks along with Namibia’s national oil company NAMCOR, BP said.
Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Mrigank Dhaniwala