Senegalese oil: Total invited to the table, page-98

WPL brought BV the company to get ownership of SNE the asset. To do that the agreed a price for BV was low to compensate WPL for taking on the cost of the liabilities associated with that company.

If the contractual obligation for the Athena was a COP BV liability then WPL 's offer for COP's 35% was $440 mil plus a figure agreed as compensation to WPL for taking on the liability of the Athena contract. ( at the time the agreement between COP / WPL was signed )

This would value COP's 35% at a much higher figure than $440 mil and would also shield COP from paying the higher taxes associated with the true profit realised from the sale of that asset.

The last five months have been spent trying to unravel this deal amicably to allow PE rights, let's hope they have made some progress.

AIMO