Former BP boss Tony Hayward is to spearhead the hunt for oil off Angola after his new firm struck a major licence deal yesterday.
The 56-year-old – who started his career in Aberdeen as a rig geologist – claimed he had been “demonised and vilified” after quitting BP in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico disaster.
He was forced to step down from the oil giant’s board following outrage about the catastrophe.
But he has since forged a successful new career with London-listed Genel Energy, and yesterday the company and a joint venture partner agreed to buy 15% stakes in two exploratory licences offshore Angola.
WRG, a venture owned by Genel and White Rose Energy Ventures, will acquire a 15% stake in Block 38 in the Kwanza Basin from China Sonangol for £36million, of which Genel will pay a net sum of £18million, and a 15% interest in the adjacent Block 39 from Norway’s Statoil for £134million.
Statoil operates both blocks and has interests in three other licences in the Kwanza Basin, where so-called pre-salt geological formations lie.
Mr Hayward said they hold the potential for discoveries amounting to billions of barrels of oil.
“This transaction provides a rare opportunity to enter into a low risk, multi-billion barrel resource play,” he said.
For Genel, the Angola stakes will add to existing African assets including in Morocco, Ivory Cast, Somaliland and Ethiopia.
Drilling on Block 39 is expected to commence in the second quarter, followed by exploration on Block 38, Genel said.
Statoil said it had sold the stake to “share exploration risk”.
Angola already contributes 28% of Statoil’s oil and gas output outside Norway.
Statoil will retain a 40% stake in Block 39. The other partners are France’s Total with 15% and Angolan state oil firm Sonangol with 30%.
The Norwegian company will participate in the drilling of eight wells in the next two to three years in total, it added.
Genel said it planned to pay for the transactions, which are subject to government and partner approvals, through existing cash balances.