BG Group Exits Block 3 Offshore Tanzania

BG Group has decided to withdraw from development of Block 3 offshore Tanzania.

"We have applied to the government to relinquish (involvement). Our view of the resource does not support BG Group proceeding to the next phase of development," a spokesman for BG Group was quoted as saying by Reuters.

Ophir, BG’s partner in Block 3, has decided to re-assume operatorship from October 2014. Ophir will hold 80 percent interest while Temasek portfolio company Pavilion Energy will retain 20 percent.

The 2012 Papa-1 gas discovery is the only well to have been drilled in Block 3 to date.

The existing equity holdings on Block 1 and Block 4 remain as before. Blocks 1, 3 and 4 offshore Tanzania are located in the Mafia Deep Basin offshore from the Rovuma and Rufiji Deltas, in water depths ranging from 100 to 3,000 metres. Ophir was awarded a 100 percent interest in Block 1 in 2005 and a 100 percent interest in Blocks 3 and 4 in 2006. The company then subsequently farmed down a 60 percent stake and operatorship in all three blocks to BG Group in May 2010.