Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas (AIM:ECO) has completed the farm down of a 37.5% working interest in Block 1 CBK offshore South Africa to Navitas Petroleum, transferring operatorship of the block.
The AIM and TSX-V listed oil and gas explorer, focused on the offshore Atlantic Margins, first flagged the deal in May, and completion followed regulatory approvals from the South African government and the TSX Venture Exchange.
Eco received a $4m cash payment from Navitas on completion.
Navitas will also carry Eco's share of the work programme, with that carry capped at $7.5m net to Eco and repayable from future production proceeds.
Block 1 CBK spans 19,929 square kilometres and sits next to the Namibian border, with three legacy wells confirming a gas discovery that tested flow rates of 32.4m standard cubic feet per day.
The acreage lies near recent discoveries by Galp Energia, TotalEnergies and Rhino Resources, with Shell's Merlin-1X well, drilled in June, just 70km away.
Eco now holds a 37.5% stake in the block, rising to 47.5% if it exercises an option with local partner OrangeBasin Energies for a further 20% interest, exercisable until February 2028.
"Completion of the Block 1 CBK farm down marks another important milestone in our Strategic Framework with Navitas, extending our partnership into South Africa," said Gil Holzman, president and chief executive of Eco Atlantic.
Holzman said the company remains on track to finalise other 2026 transactions, including the JHI acquisition, a Namibian licence farm down to BP, and a new production sharing agreement for its Orinduik acreage in Guyana.
News Intelligence what this means for the company
Eco Atlantic has closed its sale of a 37.5% stake in South African Block 1 CBK to Navitas Petroleum, receiving $4m cash and handing over operatorship. The deal, flagged in May, clears a near-term cash milestone and extends Eco's partnership with Navitas into South Africa, but the company remains a pre-revenue explorer dependent on completing a pipeline of 2026 transactions—including the JHI acquisition, a Namibian farm-down to BP, and a Guyana production agreement—to unlock material value.
The $4m inflow is modest relative to Eco's exploration-stage balance sheet and does not alter the core thesis: value hinges on drilling success in the Falklands and South Africa, and on closing the JHI acquisition and other announced deals. Operatorship transfer to Navitas removes execution risk on Block 1 CBK work programme but also reduces Eco's direct control.
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