PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Australian oil and gas producer Woodside’s play in Senegal has been validated after that country’s Minister of Energy and the Development of Renewable Energy issued a Ministerial order confirming that the ASX-listed company is a participant in the SNE oilfield, offshore Senegal.
Fellow-listed FAR earlier this month made claims that the Senegalese government had not approved a $350-million deal struck between Woodside and ConocoPhillips, which would saw the Australian firm acquire ConocoPhillips' interest in Senegal.
These interests included a 35% working interest in a production sharing agreement (PSA) with the government of Senegal, covering three offshore exploration blocks that included the SNE and FAN deep-water oil discoveries.
FAR also at the time claimed that the company, which made the oil discoveries and holds a 15% interest in the two projects, had not been provided with proper pre-emptive rights.
Woodside on Wednesday also acknowledged an announcement made by FAR that the company had requested the International Chamber of Commerce to start arbitration proceedings in relation to its asserted right to pre-empt the sale of ConocoPhillips’ interest in the Senegalese assets to Woodside; however, Woodside maintained that these claims had no merit.
SNE is considered one of the largest global deep-water oil discoveries since 2014, and Woodside estimated that it contained some 560-million barrels of recoverable oil.