Total farms in ConocoPhillips' exploration blocks

French oil giant Total S.A announced on Monday that it has signed an agreement with ConocoPhillips to acquire a 24.5 percent interest in the Arafura Sea and the Amborip VI blocks in the Arafura Sea.

Following the agreement, ConocoPhillips, the operator of those two blocks, now hold a 75.5 percent working interest in the Arafura Sea block. In the Amborip VI block, ConocoPhillips now holds a 51 percent interest with OPIC Indonesia Corporation holding the remaining 24.5 percent interest, Total said in statement.

Lying in water depths ranging from 30 to 100 metres, the Arafura Sea and Amborip VI blocks each cover around 9,000 square kilometers. In each block, the first exploration well is planned to be drilled by end of 2010, it said.

With the acquisition, Total pursues its strategy to further develop its exploration and production activities in Indonesia in ?new frontier? geological plays, it added. (denny)