MOG Farms Out 75% Stake in Malta Asset to Genel

Mediterranean Oil & Gas (MOG) announced Friday that it has completed the sale of 75 percent of its Phoenicia Energy Company subsidiary, which owns the rights to exploration activity in Malta Offshore Area 4. The deal saw Genel Energy pay $10 million in return for the stake.

Genel will also carry 100 percent of the cost for the first exploration well, Hagar Qim 1, which will be drilled to a depth of at least 8,200 feet. The firm will also fund 100 percent of a second exploration well up to a maximum cost of $30 million.

MOG Chief Executive Bill Higgs commented in a statement:

"We are very pleased to have completed this transaction with Genel. This enables PECL to progress with the preparation for the drilling of the MOG operated Hagar Qim 1 exploration well offshore Malta, planned for late 2013."