Jest zgoda na zakup OML-26.Wywiad CEO - źródło REUTERSNov 4 (Reuters) - Afren's acquisition of a stake in a Nigerian oil field known as OML 26, announced last year, is on track to complete by the end of 2011, the Africa-focused oil firm's chief executive said.
"We've received ministerial consent, we've received our waiver of pre-emption rights and we're in the final stages of closing this," Chief Executive Osman Shahenshah told Reuters in an interview on Friday.
Shares in Afren traded down 6 percent to 81.75 pence at 1150 GMT, paring earlier losses of as much as 14 percent.
Analysts attributed the losses to a media report which suggested that Afren's stake in the oil block had been allocated to other parties.
"We're fully on track to close by the end of the year. Nothing's changed," Shahenshah said.
Afren is buying the stake through First Hydrocarbon Nigeria, an indigenous Nigerian company it set up to buy fields sold off by majors, and said in October 2010 it would spend $187.5 million buying the OML 26 stake from Shell (RDSa.L), Total and Eni .
Shahenshah also said that he was confident Afren would meet its target of exiting the year with total group production of around 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) after ramping up production from its Ebok field, also in Nigeria.
"Ebok's going well. Earlier in the year we had some delays but it's all going very well now," he said.
Afren said in July it expected full-year production to average between 25,000 and 30,000 boepd, down from the 40,000 boepd it forecast in May. (Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)