British oil giant BP has received approval from the mines and energy ministry to take over three oil blocks from Eco (Atlantic) Oil and Gas.
Eco Atlantic announced on Friday that it had received formal approval on Thursday.
“With final regulatory approval now secured, we will complete the remaining closing formalities as swiftly as possible and look forward to moving full steam ahead with BP, Namcor and our local partners into the next phase of exploration across these highly prospective Walvis Basin licences,” Eco Atlantic president Gil Holzman says.
The three licences are in the Walvis Basin and the two companies announced a farm-out agreement in April this year.
The farm-out agreement transfers 60% of Eco Atlantic’s participating interest in the licences to BP in exchange for N$44 million (US$2.7 million) and BP taking over the costs of exploration.
Eco Atlantic will keep a 25% interest in all three blocks, which are the petroleum exploration licences 97, 99 and 100.
The government’s approval allows BP to finish seismic reprocessing and obtain more 3D seismic data.
“Securing final regulatory approval for the farm down of our Namibian portfolio to BP is a significant milestone for Eco and brings us towards completing this landmark transaction,” Holzman says.
If the partners on the blocks choose to renew the petroleum exploration licences in 2028, Eco Atlantic will either give BP another 10% of the licence in exchange for BP covering exploration costs or keep their percentage and fund their part of exploration.
