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JOHANNESBURG — In late 2019, Keith Hill, president and CEO of Africa Oil Corp., told Petroleum Economist that the African continent is perhaps the “largest frontier” given Africa’s unproven oil and gas basins. , said there are great opportunities for exploration, production and development companies. Including unaffiliated.
Three years later, Hill remains bullish on Africa, with Canada-based Petroleum Africa Corporation pushing for oil and gas exploration in Africa. The company is part of the growth trend we see. Independent oil and gas companies recognize the tremendous potential of the untapped continent and are finding ways to thrive and make a positive impact here.
I am very optimistic about independent companies such as Africa Oil Corp and BW Energy, which have a successful track record in exploration and production, and Perenco, which is building the natural gas industry in Africa.
I am encouraged by Trident Energy’s efforts to find ways to strengthen production in mature sectors, and by Eco-Atlantic, which has persuaded investors not to turn their backs on the African continent. Companies like this are exactly what Africa needs.
They bring private capital, experience and know-how to the continent. They are accelerating resource monetization and maximization for Africa. I honestly can’t wait to see what they do in 2023.
Harnessing natural gas for Africa
“The future of gas in Africa is floating offshore,” eloquently stated David Christianson in a recent blog for the Trade Law Centre, a South African-based think tank. Floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) units are an ideal way to tap into Africa’s abundant natural gas resources.
They can be deployed more quickly and affordably than land-based LNG trains, creating a viable path to gas monetization. Perenco, headquartered in London and operating in Cameroon for nearly 30 years, is capitalizing on these opportunities.
Perenco not only built an FLNG plant in Cameroon, it made history there. He Hilli Episeyo FLNG, which entered commercial operation in March 2018, is his second FLNG plant to enter operation in the world and the first plant in the world to operate from a converted his LNG tanker. .
The plant, moored off Kribi, is owned by Golar in Norway. The project not only has global implications, but also involves local organizations. Perenco partnered with his Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (National Hydrocarbons Company) in Cameroon to launch the project.
Hilli Episeyo is designed to produce 2.4 million tonnes per year (2.65 million tonnes per year) of LNG and has a capacity of 125,000 m3 of storage capacity. Natural gas for the plant will come from Perenko’s Saga and Evome gas fields.
In addition, Perenco is expanding its upstream activities on the continent. Earlier this year, the company signed an agreement with oil and gas company New Age Ltd. to purchase a stake in and acquire operating rights to the Etinde gas field in the shallow waters of the Rio del Rey Basin off the coast of Cameroon.
In July, Perenco acquired the North African operations of the Anglo-Swiss multinational Glencore. The acquisition includes Petrochad Mangala, which operates the Mangala, Badilla and Kulim fields in Chad’s Doba Basin.
And in November, the company announced it had found oil at the Tchibeli North East pre-salt Vandji exploration prospect offshore Congo, describing it as a potential “play opener.”
Each of these actions and successes represents the potential for greater energy security, economic growth, and builds on Perenco’s track record to bring better jobs to Africans.
Perenco is a great example of an independent company that has successfully developed a strategy for Africa’s unique challenges, needs and opportunities. And it’s not alone.
Breathe new life into mature fields
Meet UK independent Trident Energy as it ushers in a new era of operational efficiency and production improvement in Equatorial Guinea.
Trident’s business strategy seeks to acquire medium-term production assets around the world, particularly oil and gas fields that are under-attended and invested, and to redevelop them, increase production and release reserves. . This approach is of great value in Africa, where the production of legacy assets is declining across the continent.
In Equatorial Guinea, Trident is the operator of Block G. This includes the production of the Ceiba and Okoume oil field complexes of his six fields in the Gulf of Guinea, in the shallow and deep waters of the Rio Omni Basin, with a capacity utilization rate of 40.375%. interest. The company also holds his 40% stake in Block S, W, and EG-21.
In May of this year, Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons and Trident’s joint venture partners Block G, Cosmos Energy, Panoro Energy and GE Petrol agreed to extend Block’s Production Sharing Contract (PSC) through 2040. Agreed to extend, Trident spends more time maxing out the block’s potential.
Trident is well respected by both governments and the companies with whom we work. Trident recognizes these strong partnerships and the company’s commitment to being an active and visible member of the communities in which it operates.
Foreign project leaders and their families relocate domestically because the company plays a significant role in contributing to the local economy and community. Most importantly, building local capabilities and improving local content has been a key strategy for the company’s leadership.
Trident also provides quality jobs and respectful treatment to local residents, creates empowering skills development, health care and education programs in host communities, and implements best practices to protect the environment. is also known to
Trident Energy’s Okuume oilfield upgrade, which is underway this year, will require conversion of 15 gas lift wells to electric submersible pumps (ESPs).
In preparation for the conversion, the company has undertaken a $57 million upgrade at its central processing facility in Okume. Trident Energy’s team in Equatorial Guinea has managed all aspects of the project, including supply his chain, logistics and coordination.
About 55% of the services were provided by local contractors. 32% of services were provided by local contractors and only 13% by international contractors.
Projects that increase production of dwindling assets, like the Okume upgrade, are of great importance both to Equatorial Guinea and the continent as a whole. I hope more companies will follow in Trident’s footsteps.
set the stage for success
The African Energy Chamber was also impressed by Norwegian independent BW Energy, which is very strategic in its approach to gas exploration and production in Namibia.
BW, which also has a strong presence in Gabon, targets proven offshore oil and gas reservoirs, with phased development to minimize risk. By operating at a site with existing production facilities, the company shortens the time to first oil production and constrains cash flow, according to its website.
In 2017, the company acquired a 56% stake in the Kudu gas field in the northern Orange Sub Basin, approximately 130 km (80.78 m) off the southwest coast of Namibia. A few years later, BW has increased his interest in the gas project to 95%.
Kudu fields are believed to be at least 1.3 trillion feet3 However, the site has remained undeveloped since ChevronTexaco first discovered gas there in 1974. There is a long string of operators in the field, but as his Hawilti, a pan-African research agency, says, there are many contributing factors to the lack of agreement on gas. Delays in government-backed projects have left them up in the air.
The site’s isolated location and lack of infrastructure to transport the gas haven’t solved the problem.
But I think that chapter is closed now that BW has taken the lead. As announced during Africa Energy Week in Cape Town, BW has launched a revised development plan for Kudu, which includes using a repurposed semi-submersible drilling rig as a floating production unit (FPU). Pursue. This will allow the gas to be moved onshore for domestic energy generation.
BW purchased the rigs needed for this job earlier this year.
BW’s work could have far-reaching implications for daily life in Namibia. The country currently relies on electricity imports to meet domestic demand.
BW’s work in Kudu will help Gas Namibia provide the means to reliably power its people, drive industrial growth, create jobs and position Namibia as a regional energy hub.
Overcoming hurdles and determination to model
Another independent company modeling what can be achieved in Africa is Toronto-based Eco Atlantic. At a time when companies are under pressure not to start new oil and gas projects on the continent, the company has overcome challenges in raising capital.
In April, Eco-Atlantic raised approximately $25.5 million to cover the cost of drilling the Gazania 1 well in Block 2B offshore South Africa, but the company said its valuation showed evidence of commercial hydrocarbons. announced no.
That doesn’t stop the company from moving forward in Africa. Eco Atlantic, along with partners Africa Energy Corp, Panoro 2B Limited (a subsidiary of Panoro Energy ASA) and Crown Energy AB, has conducted additional exploration drilling, including his two-well campaign in Block 3B/4B offshore South Africa. are planning Commencing in 2023, there will be at least one well in the Orinduik block offshore Guyana.
“While the lack of a commercial discovery is understandably disappointing, the Gazania-1 well is only the first of four planned wells across our broad portfolio over the next 18-24 months. It was a great experience,” said Gil Holzman, co-founder and CEO of Eco Atlantic. He said.
Persistence is a necessary trait for all companies in this industry. Eco Atlantic’s continued efforts to explore South Africa’s offshore basins are commendable.
On December 19, the company announced that its subsidiary Azinam Limited had acquired a further 6.25% participation in Block 3B/4B offshore South Africa. Eco-Atlantic has also received regulatory approval for the acquisition.
Eco-Atlantic currently holds a 26.25% stake in Block 3B/4B, holding block operators Africa Oil Corporation and Cape Town-based upstream company LicoCure.
Big discoveries, big ambitions
As for Africa Oil Corp., one of its strengths is the respect it has earned within the industry and among government leaders. The company has been involved in major discoveries, including his 2022 Venus gas oil discovery made by Total Energies offshore Namibia (through its subsidiary Impact Oil & Gas Limited).
Since then, the company has focused on continued exploration operations. It has a portfolio of production and development assets in deepwater offshore Nigeria, development assets in Kenya, exploration assets in Guyana, Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and the Guinea-Bissau Joint Development Region (AGC) in Senegal.
The success of companies in East Africa is particularly exciting. Exploration in Kenya over the past decade has opened up two new basins for him that span southern Somalia. Keith recently told Energy, Oil & Gas magazine that the basin covers an area the size of the North Sea.
And in Puntland, the company believes it discovered oil through drilling the Shabeel well.
Hill said he remembers when most companies believed the opportunities in East Africa were limited.
“At most oil and gas conferences today, the universal opinion is that East Africa is currently one of the hottest oil and gas exploration regions in the world,” he said. “Africa Oil Corp’s forward-thinking approach allowed us to enter and secure all the required land before the region actually took off.”
“What that means is that today we are looking at an organization with the highest land area of any company currently in existence in East Africa.”
Great.
Earlier this year, I said that Africa will not achieve the energy future it wants. This includes making history of energy poverty if it weren’t for the non-partisan class. Today, that truth is clearer than ever.
To be sure, major companies and national oil companies still play an important role in Africa’s energy industry, but the independent companies operating here give us every reason to be optimistic about Africa’s future. increase.
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