TotalEnergies agrees $1.8bn infrastructure deal with BlackRock unit GIP

Pinned summary · as of 16:37

TotalEnergies has struck a deal with Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), part of BlackRock, that involves $1.8 billion in capital tied to its oil and gas infrastructure in Africa. Reports say the French energy group will make payments to GIP that depend on how much moves through the facilities, over a period of up to 15 years.

What we know

• TotalEnergies has entered a partnership with GIP, a BlackRock unit, covering some of its oil and gas infrastructure holdings on the African continent, and the deal is worth $1.8 billion in capital.
• In return, TotalEnergies will pay GIP a tariff linked to throughput, and the arrangement can run for up to 15 years.
• Chief Financial Officer Jean-Pierre Sbraire presented the arrangement as a way for TotalEnergies to realise value from its midstream infrastructure assets in Africa.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

• ?
  The Vaultz News reported that the transaction was announced on Friday, September 18; Energy News Africa did not give an announcement date.
• ?
  The Vaultz News said neither TotalEnergies nor GIP has named the assets or the countries the deal covers, and that TotalEnergies has not said how it will use the money. Energy News Africa did not address either point.
• ?
  According to The Vaultz News, TotalEnergies said it and its partners in Angola plan to invest $10 billion in projects over five years, including tying the Acacia-5 discovery on Block 17 to the Pazflor floating production facility. The company expects the find to lift Block 17 output by about 6,000 barrels daily, the report said.
• ?
  The Vaultz News also reported that TotalEnergies has agreed to take a 40% operated stake in two Angolan exploration blocks, 17/25 and 32/21, located in the Lower Congo Basin.
• ?
  The same report said TotalEnergies holds 62% of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), a line of roughly 1,443 kilometres designed to carry up to 246,000 barrels a day from Uganda's Lake Albert area to Tanga in Tanzania. It added that TotalEnergies is building it with Uganda's national oil company, Tanzania's state petroleum firm and China's CNOOC and that the project was reported to be 92.7% complete earlier in September.

Why it matters for Ghana

Oil and gas infrastructure across Africa, from pipelines to processing facilities, shapes how much fuel and gas producing countries can move and sell. Because the companies have not said which assets or countries are covered, it is not yet clear which Ghanaian or other national interests are touched. Readers in Ghana's energy sector will watch for those details, since they determine who benefits from the fresh capital.