Austrian energy company OMV said Thursday it expanded its African footprint by joining an offshore exploration project in Namibia.

"OMV is well on track to position its assets into more high-return upstream projects," OMV Chief Executive Officer Gerhard Roiss said in a statement. "Therefore it is part of OMV's strategy to build up new exploration opportunities also in the region of Sub-Saharan Africa."

The Austrian company said it's entering Namibia through the acquisition of a 65 percent stake from Brazilian company Cowan Petroleum through a partnership with Murphy Luderitz Oil Co. for an undisclosed sum.

Murphy, through a partnership with OMV, serves as the operator in a program to use seismic surveys to get a better understanding of the reserves off the coast of Namibia. Surveys are slated to begin later this year.

The two reserve areas offshore encompass a total area of 4,200 square miles. OMV provided no estimate of the reserve potential.

Namibia is considered frontier territory. Basins north of the country off the coast of Ghana are very rich in oil.

Eni hopeful for Mozambique LNG
Washington DC (UPI) Apr 02, 2014 –

Italian energy company Eni said it was eager to help Mozambique become a hub for liquefied natural gas exports to Asian economies.

Paolo Scaroni, chief executive officer at Eni, met in Brussels with Mozambique President Armando Geubuza to review developments of the country's gas sector.

The Italian company said in a statement operations in Mozambique "include the construction of onshore and offshore gas liquefaction plants, to serve international markets and mainly Asia, and projects aimed at supplying energy for local consumption."

Asian markets are taking on more international supplies of natural gas in order to satisfy the needs of their expanding economies.

Eni last year said it made a "high impact" discovery while working in the Agulha exploration prospect in the deep waters off the coast of Mozambique. It estimated the area may hold as much as 7 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in place.

Eni estimates there are 80 trillion cubic feet of natural gas at its Mamba Complex and Coral discoveries in Mozambique.