(Adds Tullow comment)
LONDON (Dow Jones)
The acquisition requires the approval of French authorities and includes an option to acquire an additional 12% stake at a later date, Shell said.
Tullow declined to give the financial terms of the deal, but Exploration director Angus McCoss said they are in line with typical industry standards. The most common terms for such a deal are for the partner buying into an exploration block to agree to pay a share of future exploration costs rather than an upfront cash fee.
Tullow believes that rock formations offshore French Guiana and its neighbors share similar geological characteristics with areas offshore west Africa where Tullow and its partners Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC) and Kosmos Energy have made significant oil discoveries.
The northeastern part of Latin America and West Africa were joined millions of years ago before the continents split.
"The Venus-B results [offshore Sierra Leone] had a very positive impact on the prospectivity of acreage in northeast Latin America," and Shell's entry into the area is further confirmation of that, said McCoss.
After the Shell sale, Tullow will still hold 67.5% in the Guyane Maritime block and it is close to agreeing the sale of another part of its stake to a major oil industry player, McCoss said.
Tullow expects to drill the first exploration well in this block in December 2010, he said.
"This purchase adds quality acreage to our deep water portfolio in the Americas," said David Lawrence, Shell's executive vice president for exploration and commercial. "It allows us to apply technical and operating expertise built up over decades of pioneering work in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere.
Company Web site: http://www.shell.com;
http://www.tullowoil.com
-By James Herron, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9317; james.herron@dowjones.com