Oil group Total buys stakes in offshore Guyana blocks

PARIS (Reuters) - French oil and energy group Total has bought stakes in some offshore Guyana oil production blocks, boosting its presence in the potentially lucrative Guyana basin.

Total said it was buying a 35 percent working interest in the Canje Block, in an agreement signed with an affiliate of Canadian company JHI Associates Inc. and Guyana-based company Mid-Atlantic Oil & Gas Inc.

These two companies will retain a shared 30 percent interest alongside operator ExxonMobil, which has a 35 percent stake.

Total has also bought a 25 percent working interest stake in the Kanuku Block, in an agreement with Repsol and Tullow Oil. Repsol and Tullow each have stakes of 37.5 percent in that block.

Total added it had an option to buy a 25 percent working interest in the Orinduik Block, in an agreement with Canadian company Eco Atlantic Oil & Gas Ltd, which will retain a 15 percent interest following exercise of the option, alongside Tullow Oil which has 60 percent.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Bate Felix)