French oil major Total announced Wednesday that it had signed an agreement with Sinochem to sell TEPMA – a fully-owned affiliate of Total that holds a working interest in the Cusiana field as well as a participation in OAM and ODC pipelines in Colombia. Total’s share of production of Cusiana is around 7,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The transaction is subject to approval by the relevant authorities. This sale follows a divestiture of a 5 percent working interest in the Ocensa pipeline to Petrominerales and of another 5 percent to Cepsa in July 2011. The combined value of the three transactions amounts to about $1 billion.
“Disposing of these mature assets and positions in transportation infrastructures is in line with our ongoing asset optimization strategy and follows similar recent divestments such as the Gassled pipelines in Norway and mature fields in Cameroon,” said Olivier de Langavant, Senior Vice President Strategy Business Development R&D at Total Exploration-Production.
“For Colombia, it will allow us to focus our expertise on exploration assets with higher potential.”
Total will continue its exploration activities in Colombia on the Niscota (50 percent) and Mundo Nuevo (55 percent) blocks. In 2009, a significant gas condensate discovery was made in the southern part of Niscota by the well Huron 1. The promising appreciation well Huron 2 is being drilled with a further appreciation well Huron 3 to be drilled later in 2012. Total still holds a 5.2 percent share in the Ocensa pipeline.
