Heritage Oil to sell part of Gas Block to fund its entry into Nigeria

Heritage Oil Plc said it will sell a part of its holding in a gas block in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region to Genel Energy Plc and take a loan from Genel, for a total of $450 million in proceeds. Heritage Oil said it would use the proceeds from the transactions with Genel, to partly fund its acquisition of a stake in a string of Nigerian oilfield assets, known as OML 30, which it announced last month.

Heritage Oil will sell a 26 percent interest in the Miran Block and an interest in a related joint operating agreement to Genel for $156 million, which would increase Genel's holding in the Miran Block to 51 percent. The $294 million loan provided by Genel to Heritage Oil can be repaid by transferring ownership of its unit Heritage Energy Middle East Ltd, which currently operates the Miran Block, to Genel.