Japan's Inpex acquires Gulf of Mexico oilfield stake

TOKYO Aug 14 (Reuters) - Japan's top oil and gas explorer Inpex Corp said on Tuesday it had acquired a 7.2 percent stake in the Lucius Deepwater oilfield project in the Gulf of Mexico from Andarko Petroleum Corp.

The project includes parts of Keathley Canyon blocks 874, 875, 918 and 919, the Japanese firm said in a statement. An Inpex spokesman declined to disclose the value of the deal.

The operator Anadarko and its partners had made a final investment decision to develop the project in December, with the first production of oil and natural gas slated to start in the second half of 2014.

Anadarko's stake fell to 27.8 percent after the transaction. Other partners are U.S.-based Plains (23.331 percent), Exxon Mobil (15 percent), Apache (11.669 pct), Petrobras (9.6 percent) and Eni (5.4 percent).