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Petronas, Noble sign Cameroon energy exploration deal

Tue Jul 7, 2009 1:04pm EDT

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YAOUNDE, July 7 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Petronas (PETR.KL) and U.S. company Noble Energy (NBL.N) have signed a $119 million oil and gas exploration deal with Cameroon's state oil firm, the Cameroonian company said on Tuesday.

The seven-year contract covers an area off the West African country's main port of Douala which has estimated reserves of 40-70 million barrels of oil, Cameroon's National Hydrocarbon Company (SNH) said in a statement.

If commercial hydrocarbons are discovered, Cameroon could take a 25 percent stake in the production, while the contractor could be granted a 25-year exclusive exploitation licence, renewable once for 10 years for oil, and 35 years, renewable once for 10 years for gas.

Cameroon produces around 85,000 barrels of oil per day, which it hopes to increase with both on and offshore projects.

Noble Energy, Petronas and SNH are already partners in Yoyo, a gas project in Cameroon.

(Reporting by Tansa Musa; Editing by Daniel Magnowski and Peter Blackburn)



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