TotalEnergies sells 18% interest in Duhok oil field

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - TotalEnergies has completed the sale of its 18% share in the Sarsang oil block in Duhok province for a fee of $155 million, the French company said on Thursday completing its exit from the Kurdistan Region.

The share was sold to ShaMaran Petroleum, a Canadian oil development, and exploration company operating in the Region.

ShaMaran’s president Adel Chaouch called the acquisition a “momentous day for ShaMaran.”

“We have transformed ShaMaran from being a single asset company into one owning a portfolio of stakes in three world class producing oil fields (Atrush, Swara Tika, and East Swara Tika),” Chaouch said.

The US-based HKN energy holds a 62 percent stake in the Sarsang block and TotalEnergies previously held 18 percent, with the remainder owned by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG).

TotalEnergies share of production was around 3,5000 barrels per day in 2021, according to numbers published by the company. 

A February ruling by Iraq’s top court against the Kurdistan Region’s authority to administer its energy resources has cast insecurity on the legitimacy of international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the Region.

The court found the Region’s oil and gas law to be “unconstitutional,” therefore striking down the legal basis for the independence of the Region’s oil and gas sector.

Iraq’s oil ministry in July said that three US energy giants - Schlumberger, Baker Hughes, and Halliburton - will no longer tender for new projects in the Kurdistan Region.