Eco Shares Rise On Option Agreement With Total

By Oliver Griffin

Shares in Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd. (EOG.V) rose sharply in early trading as the company reported that its subsidiary, Eco Guyana, had entered into an option agreement on its Orinduik Block with Total E&P Activités Pétrolières SA, a subsidiary of Total SA (TOT).

Eco said Total would pay $12.5 million to acquire a 25% interest in the Orinduik Block offshore Guyana, and would also pay a $1 million option fee for the right to perform drilling and exploration there.

Eco Guyana currently holds a 40% working interest in Orinduik. Tullow, the block operator, holds the remaining 60%. On the completion of the option agreement, Tullow will continue to hold 60%, while Total and Eco will hold 25% and 15% respectively.

The transaction will help Eco fund its share of the drilling costs at least two wells in Orinduik as well as the cost of an expanded 3D seismic survey of the block.

Shares at 0747 GMT were up 9.5%, or 1.63 pence, at 18.75 pence, having risen as much as 14% in early trading.

Write to Oliver Griffin at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 26, 2017 04:26 ET (08:26 GMT)

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