Marathon Ethiopia Limited B.V. has announced that it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Agriterra Limited to acquire their 20 per cent working interest in the South Omo concession in Ethiopia. Marathon Ethiopia Limited B.V. is a subsidiary of Marathon Oil. The companies expect to close the transaction before the end of 2012.
Tullow Oil is the operator of the South Omo concession with a 50 per cent working interest, and Africa Oil holds the remaining 30 percent working interest. The concession has an area of approximately 7.2 million gross acres (29,465 gross square kilometers). An exploration well is anticipated to spud in South Omo in late 2012.
“This acquisition is a strong addition to Marathon Oil’s position in the Tertiary rift trend onshore East Africa and is on trend with the recent Ngamia-1 discovery in Kenya,” said Marathon Oil vice president, Global Exploration, Annell Bay is a press release. “We are excited to build on our partnership with Tullow and Africa Oil.”
