Confirming growing interest from international firms in South Sudan’s petroleum sector, London’s Savannah Energy has announced plans to acquire the oil and gas assets of Malaysia’s Petronas in South Sudan for $1.25 billion.
Once completed, the share purchase agreement would grant Savannah Energy interests in three joint operating companies, which operate Block 3/7 (40% working interest), Block 1/2/4 (30% working interest) and Block 5A (67.9% working interest). Petronas holds assets consisting of 64 producing fields that yielded an average of 153,200 barrels of oil per day in 2021.
The British independent energy firm, for its part, has been actively expanding its sub-Saharan Africa portfolio, following its $407-million acquisition of ExxonMobil’s entire upstream and midstream assets in Chad and Cameroon, and now its purchase in South Sudan.
With Savannah Energy listed on London’s AIM market, the deal brings transparency and accountability to South Sudan’s upstream landscape, boosting investor confidence as the country seeks to attract new investment partners.
An additional 20-year extension to its production license within Nigeria’s deep offshore block OML 130 has been announced by TotalEnergies.
Widespread reforms by Angola’s President, H.E. João Lourenço, and an improved business environment are poised to attract more investment into the southern African country.
