RAK Petroleum Increases Côte d’Ivoire Stake

Oslo-listed oil and gas investment company RAK Petroleum plc has announced that it has increased its stake in Côte d’Ivoire Block CI-27 to 9.1 percent following the acquisition by Foxtrot International LDC and other members of the joint venture of their pro-rata shares of the 12 percent interest previously held in the block by Energie de Côte d’Ivoire SA.

Following the transaction that was closed on December 1 the Company now has a one-third ownership of Foxtrot International held through Mondoil Enterprises LLC while Foxtrot International holds a 27.5 percent interest in the block of which it is the operator.

RAK has further provided an update on the development of the previously discovered Marlin oil and gas field and the nearby Manta gas field is on track following the successful installation last month of the jacket over the Marlin field, part of a four-year, USD 1 billion, expansion program on Block CI-27.

Once completed, the platform, the second production platform on the block, will support development of both fields and increase deliverability from Block CI-27 commencing in 2015.

The first platform on Block CI-27, in operation since 1999, currently processes a daily average of 145 million cubic feet of gas, 70 percent of Côte d’Ivoire’s total, and 1,000 barrels of oil and condensate from the Foxtrot and Mahi fields.

Also in November, Foxtrot International commenced drilling of the Marlin North 1 well to test the existence of a commercial Cenomanian accumulation north of the Marlin oil and gas field.  The well is located in water depths of about 60 meters and will be completed in January 2015.