Tullow Oil Plc announced on 10th October 2020 that it had received a $500 million consideration from Total for the sale of its assets in Uganda, which marks the completion of the transfer of Tullow’s assets to the French giant.

The Irish oil company is to receive another $75 million when there is a Final Investment Decision on the development project. It will also receive contingent payment regarding the oil price, payable after the commencement of the production.

Although the company retains a financial link to the development project through the potential contingent payments, the sale of the assets confirms Tullow’s exits from its licenses in Uganda after 16 years of operations in the Lake Albert basin.

The closing of the transaction implies that all the conditions of the deal have been met including the execution of binding Tax Agreement, the approval for the transfer of Tullow’s interests to Total and the transfer of operatorship for Block 2.

The Chief Executive Officer of Tullow, Rahul Dhir said, “The closing of our transaction with Total clearly evokes mixed emotions within Tullow. While we are sad to be exiting Uganda after many years, the $575 million of proceeds form an important part of our plan to strengthen Tullow’s balance sheet and improve our financial position. We will watch the progress of Uganda’s oil & gas industry with much interest and all of us at Tullow wish the people and Government of Uganda and our former Joint Venture Partners every good fortune as they take this important project forward.”