Heritage Oil has struck an $850m (£545m) deal with Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell and its partners to purchase a large non-operating interest in a group of producing oilfields in Nigeria, Africa’s leading oil producing nation, a move which will add further to Heritage's reputation for operating in some of the world's more demanding jurisdictions.
The ambitious acquisition will boost the junior oil and gas explorer’s net production profile from a paltry 650 barrels of oil per day (bopd) to more than 11,350 bopd, and increase its proved and probable oil reserves by an estimated 217m barrels of oil net to the company. The price appears right, too – Heritage is paying a headline price of $1.76 per barrel of reserves, compared with $5.73 per barrel paid in previous Nigerian transactions, according to the company.