DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, has entered into a $117.25 million transaction agreement pursuant to which RAK Petroleum will transfer its ownership of Mondoil Enterprises to DNO.

The all-share transaction comprises Mondoil Enterprises’ 33.33 per cent indirect interest in privately-held Foxtrot International LDC whose principal assets are operated stakes in offshore production of gas and associated liquids in Côte d'Ivoire, forming a bridgehead for DNO in West Africa.

"As DNO targets expansion beyond the Kurdistan region of Iraq and the North Sea, the move into Côte d'Ivoire is an important first step into a highly prospective region offering a broad set of growth opportunities through acquisition of producing fields, development assets and exploration licenses," said Bjorn Dale, DNO’s Managing Director.

Foxtrot International holds a 27.27 per cent interest in and operatorship of Block CI-27 offshore Côte d'Ivoire containing the country’s largest reserves of gas, produced together with condensate and oil, from four offshore fields tied back to two fixed platforms, meeting more than three-quarters of the country’s gas needs.

Foxtrot International also operates an exploration licence offshore Côte d’Ivoire, Block CI-12, in which it holds a 24 per cent interest.

In addition to the Foxtrot gas field, which began production in 1999, Block CI-27 contains the Mahi gas field, developed in 2012, as well as the Marlin oil and gas field and the Manta gas field which began production in 2016, following a four-year, $1 billion development campaign by the joint venture.

Gas produced from these fields is transported by pipeline to fuel power stations in Abidjan.

In early 2020, in connection with the signature of amendments and extension of the production sharing contract and the gas sales agreement to 2034, the Block CI-27 joint venture embarked on a two-year, $350 million field development and onshore facilities construction project to supply gas to two new power stations.