Eni Hits Gas And Condensate In Ken Bau Prospect Offshore Vietnam
Italian oil and gas company, Eni has proven the presence of gas and condensate in the Ken Bau prospect located in the exploration block 114 in the Song Hong Basin, offshore Vietnam.
Eni Vietnam is the Operator of Block 114 with a 50% share; ESSAR E&P holds the remaining 50%.
Eni announced on Wednesday that the well result indicates a significant potential of the hydrocarbon accumulation.
The exploration well Ken Bau 1X has been drilled at a depth of 95m below water level, and reaches a total depth of 3606m, encountering several intervals of gas and condensate sandstone interbedded with Miocene age shale, with an estimated net reservoir thickness in excess of 100m.
Ken Bau 1X well was plugged and abandoned ahead of the original plan due to technical issues, prior to reaching deeper levels that could hold significant additional resources. Eni is already planning a drilling campaign early next year to fully assess the substantial upside of the discovery.
According to Eni, Ken Bau 1X results represent a significant breakthrough for evaluating the exploration potential in the Song Hong basin, where Eni Vietnam also operates with a 100% share in the neighboring Block 116.
Source: Offshoreenergytoday.com
Tullow Plans To Drill Suriname Well Next Year
Oil and gas company, Tullow Oil and its partners have decided to drill an exploration well in Block 47 located offshore Suriname next year.
Tullow said in an operational update on Wednesday that together with its Joint Venture Partners it had decided to enter the second phase of operations in Block 47.
Following recent meetings, the Joint Venture Partners have chosen to drill the Goliathberg-Voltzberg North prospect in 2020, Tullow added.
The prospect lies approximately 260 kilometers off the coast of Suriname, in 1,900 meters of water and is one of a series of leads and prospects on the flank of the Demerara High.
Tullow has interests in three blocks in Suriname, Blocks 54, 62, and 47.
The company signed a Production Sharing Contract with Staatsolie in relation to Block 47 in September 2010. It is a 2,369 sq km deepwater exploration license where there is potential to extend the Jubilee play from West Africa across the Atlantic to Suriname.
Tullow’s partners in Block 47 are Pluspetrol and Ratio Exploration with 30% and 20% interests, respectively.
The company signed a Production Sharing Contract with Staatsolie in relation to Block 47 in September 2010. It is a 2,369 sq km deepwater exploration license where there is potential to extend the Jubilee play from West Africa across the Atlantic to Suriname.
Tullow’s partners in Block 47 are Pluspetrol and Ratio Exploration with 30% and 20% interests, respectively. Update: Ghana Navy Rescue 8 Turkish Crewmen Attacked In Nigeria Waters
Ghana’s Navy has succeeded in rescuing eight crewmen onboard Turkish vessel, Paskoy-1 after they were attacked and abandoned on sea by pirates in Nigerian territorial waters.
The vessel was enroute La Cote D’Ivoire from Cameroon when the pirates kidnapped 10 crewmen of the total 18, including the captain of the vessel.
The pirates were believed to undertaken have done so for ransom, for the release of the captives.
The Turkish Ambassador to Ghana, Ozlem Ergun Uluren, expressed appreciation to the Ghana Navy and allied security authorities for bringing the troubled Turkish crewmen and vessel to safety in Ghanaian waters.
Commodore James Kontoh, Flag Officer in Charge of the Eastern Naval Command, bemoaned the threat the Gulf of Guinea is posing on travelers but affirmed the Ghana Navy’s resolve to ensure Ghana’s territorial waters remain safe.
“The Gulf of Guinea area has become very notorious, in terms piracy and kidnapping, but our resolve is to make sure our territorial waters are safe. We have been carrying out vigorous patrol, to make sure that they do not come here.”
Venezuela’s Juan Guaido Vows To Protect Chevron’s Assets
The Western -recognized Venezuelan President Juan Guaido has vowed to protect Chevron’s Venezuela assets in the event that the United States declines to extend Chevron’s license that allows it to operate in a sanctioned country, according to Reuters.
Chevron’s license to work in Venezuela expires on July 27, and if not renewed, Chevron would no longer be able to lawfully operate in the Latin American country. Most other foreign oil companies have already been pushed out of Venezuela by Maduro’s predecessor, former President Hugo Chavez. Chevron decided to stick it out, tempted by the vast oil riches of the Orinoco Belt.
For this privilege, Chevron had to suck up some rather unfavorable terms which Chavez demanded, not to mention its likely tiresome exposure to corruption in the country such as overbilling by contractors, which probably was a distant second to mustering up a business face when dealing with the likes of an unstable Chavez.
Under normal circumstances, if Chevron were to stop operating in Venezuela, its assets would be considered forfeit and swallowed up by the Maduro regime.
“Companies that leave the [Orinoco] oil belt will be substituted by companies of equal quality from Venezuela’s allies,” Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza said in April, Reuters reported—its allies meaning Russia and China.
But today’s backing by the leader of Maduro’s opposition should give Chevron hope that if it indeed does have to leave Venezuela until a time when sanctions are lifted, its assets will be protected and returned to Chevron when it is ready to restart production.
The United States is currently discussing the license renewal request.
Nigeria: NNPC Secures $3B Deal To Develop Oil License
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) says it had secured a US$3.15 billion financial and technical services agreement with local firm Sterling Oil Exploration & Energy Production Company Limited (SEEPCO) to develop the OML-13 oil license owned by NNPC’s upstream subsidiary NPDC.
The deal is part of NNPC’s strategy to develop more resources and increase oil production with the help of financing from third parties to spread out development costs.
At the beginning of this year, NNPC said that it was in talks with SEEPCO to raise US$3.15 billion, and in discussions with Nigerian company CMES-OMS Joint Venture Limited for another US$991.1 million, to boost its oil production. The state oil firm was seeking the total of US$4.1 billion to develop oil resources estimated at more than 400 million barrels of crude oil from three oil fields in Nigeria.
NNPC, which was pumping around 240,000 bpd out of Nigeria’s 1.78 million bpd production in January 2019, is looking to raise its production to more than 500,000 bpd.
Earlier this year, Nigeria’s oil operations were disrupted several times due to fires, shutdowns, force majeure, and protests. In April and May, a key oil pipeline and a logistics base in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta were rocked by a shutdown and protests in the latest incident that disrupted the Nigerian oil industry in the spring.
Shell declared a force majeure on Bonny Light exports while exports of Amenam, operated by France’s Total, were also under force majeure in April.
Nigeria has managed to recover its production since May, and led the increases, with 129,000 bpd, among OPEC’s members who boosted production in June over May, even exceeding the boost in Saudi production.
Nigeria’s crude oil production averaged 1.855 million bpd in June, according to OPEC’s secondary sources.
Source:Oilprice.com
Nigeria Inks Deal With Germany, Siemens To Triple Power Supply
The Federal Government of Nigeria has signed a roadmap seeking to nearly triple power in partnership with the German Government and Siemens AG.
President of the West African country, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, who met with the president of the German technology firm, Siemens AG, Joe Kaeser, said the partnership will help achieve “7,000 megawatts of reliable power supply by 2021 and 11,000 megawatts by 2023”.
Only about 4,000 megawatts reliably reaches consumers despite there being over 13,000 megawatts of power generation capacity.
“Our intention is to ensure that our cooperation is structured under a government-to-government framework. No middlemen will be involved so that we can achieve value for money for Nigerians,” Buhari said.
The President expressed worries that though the initiative may not solve all the demands facing the power sector, it has the potential of addressing a significant amount of the electricity challenges Nigeria has faced for decades.
Despite being the largest producer of energy in Africa, Nigeria has struggled to supply electricity throughout the country for decades.
The government is also planning to sell 10 electricity generation companies to private investors this year to boost power supply.
The government has set up a committee for the sale of the remaining companies established under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP).
Eni Kicks Off Installation Works On Coral Sul FLNG Hull
Italian oil and gas company, Eni has started installation works on the hull of the Coral Sul floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) treatment and liquefaction unit that will be moored offshore Mozambique.
The unit is part of the Coral South project, which will put in production 450 billion cubic meters of gas from the giant Coral reservoir. The hull is expected to be launched in 2020, in line with the planned production startup of the Coral South Project in 2022, Eni informed on Monday.
The Coral Sul FLNG facility will have a gas liquefaction capacity of 3.4 million tons per year when completed and will be the first FLNG vessel ever to be deployed in the deep waters of the African continent, according to Eni.
The vessel, which will be 432 meters long and 66 meters wide and weigh about 220,000 tons, will be able to house up to 350 people in its eight-storey accommodation module. The facility will be anchored at a water-depth of around 2,000 meters by means of 20 mooring lines that weigh a combined 9,000 tons.
Construction works on the Coral Sul FLNG started in 2018 and are ongoing in seven operational centers across the world.
Construction of the mooring turret began in March; construction of the hull’s 24 modules that contain the LNG storage tanks and sections of the treatment facilities began in September 2018. Construction of the topside, consisting of 12 gas treatment and LNG modules, started last November, along with the living-quarters.
By the end of 2019 the overall progress of the project is expected to exceed 60% completion with the total man-hours worked shortly expected to reach 10 million.
Drilling and completion activities for the six subsea wells that will feed the liquefaction unit will begin in September 2019. The wells will have an average depth of approximately 3000 meters and will be drilled in about 2000 meters of water depth. The activities, carried out by the Saipem 12000 drilling rig, will be completed by the end of 2020.
Eni has been present in Mozambique since 2006, with the acquisition of a participation interest in the exploration concession of Area 4, located in the deep offshore in the Rovuma basin, in the north of the country.
Between 2011 and 2014, Eni discovered super-giant natural gas resources in the Coral, Mamba Complex and Agulha reservoirs, holding estimated 2,400 billion cubic meters of gas in place.
Qatar Petroleum Joins Oil, Gas Search Offshore Kenya
Qatar Petroleum (QP) on Tuesday announced that it had struck a deal to enter three exploration projects off the coast of Kenya operated by Italy’s Eni.
Pending approval by the Kenyan government, the national oil company is set to take 25% stake in a consortium with rights to blocks L11A, L11B and L12 in the offshore Lamu basin.
Eni will retain 41.25% interest in the group, while France’s Total will maintain a 33.75% holding.
The blocks span 15,000 km2 of acreage in waters between 1,000 and 3,000 metres deep. In its statement, QP described the area as “a frontier and largely unexplored.”
“In line with its growth strategy, this opportunity strengthens Qatar Petroleum’s position in the exploration of frontier basins with significant hydrocarbon potential,” the company said.
Eni, which is already partnered with QP at projects in Oman, Mexico, Morocco and Mozambique, said the sale “further reinforces the continuously evolving strategic co-operation between the two companies.”
The price QP agreed to pay for the stake has not been disclosed. Under the transaction, the Doha-headquartered producer will take a 13.75% interest from Eni and a 11.25% stake from Total.
Halliburton Beats Profit Estimates Despite “Challenging” North America Market
Oilfield services provider Halliburton Company has beating analyst estimates in its Q2 earnings, thanks to growth in international markets that offset lagging activity in North America, the company’s largest market.
Halliburton, one of the world’s largest oilfield services companies, adjusted net income of US$303 million, or US$0.35 per diluted share, for Q2 2019, excluding impairments and other charges.
The earnings per share exceeded the US$0.30 analyst consensus estimate in the Wall Street Journal.
The Q2 profit beat sent Halliburton’s stock surging more than 7 percent on the NYSE at 10:40 EDT, and 8 percent by 1:45pm EDT.
International revenues rose by 6 percent quarter on quarter, while North America revenue increased by 2 percent, to US$3.3 billion. Halliburton’s North American revenue was driven by higher stimulation, artificial lift and wireline activity onshore, and higher drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico.
“We continue to build on the growth momentum internationally and successfully manage the market dynamics in North America,” Jeff Miller, Chairman, President and CEO at Halliburton said, commenting on the Q2 results. Again referring to North America, Miller noted:
“We are successfully executing our strategy of controlling what we can control and managing our business to perform well in any market conditions.”
In April this year, Halliburton expected total global offshore spending to jump 14 percent this year. Reporting the Q1 figures back then, Miller said, referring to North America, “the worst in the pricing deterioration is now behind us. For the next couple of quarters, I see demand for our services progressing modestly.”
On Friday, Halliburton’s competitor Schlumberger said that its first-half international revenue increased by 8 percent on the year, while North America land revenue declined 12 percent.
“These results reflect the normalization in global E&P spend that we were anticipating as international investment increases in response to the accelerating decline in the mature production base, and North America land investment decreases due to E&P operator cash flow constraints,” Schlumberger said.
Schlumberger’s chief operating officer Olivier Le Peuch—who was appointed to become chief executive officer effective August 1—said in prepared remarks on the Q2 results:
“North America land remains a challenging environment. Indeed, E&P operator focus on cash flow has capped activity and continued efficiency improvements have also reduced the number of active rigs and frac fleets—so far without major impact on oil production.”
Source: Oilprice.com
ENGIE And Partners Reach Financial Close For PV Projects In Senegal
ENGIE and its partners Meridian and FONSIS have signed the EPC, O&M and finance contracts for two solar PV projects totalling 60MW.
The financing package for the two projects located in Kael and Kahone includes senior loans worth €38 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Finland-IFC Blended Finance for Climate Program, which helps spur private sector financing for climate change solutions in emerging markets, the European Investment Bank, and Proparco.
The solar PV plants are part of the Scaling Solar initiative in Senegal, conducted jointly by the Senegalese authorities and IFC.
ENGIE was selected as preferred bidder by Senegal’s Electricity Sector Regulation Commission (CRSE) in a tender launched in October 2017.
ENGIE and Meridiam hold a 40% shareholding in the project company. FONSIS, the Senegalese sovereign fund, is a shareholder with a 20% equity stake.
The projects are located in Kahone, in the Kaolack region, and in Touba-Kaël, in the Diourbel region; construction and operation of the plants will be managed and executed by ENGIE.
Yoven Moorooven, CEO of ENGIE Africa, said: “In an extremely competitive context, ENGIE reaffirms its commitment to be a long term player in Senegal and to bring clean and affordable energy to the country while creating sustainable jobs.
“These projects are perfectly in line with the strategy of the Group to become a leader in the zero carbon transition ‘as a service’ for our customers in Africa.”
South Africa: IPP Industry To Lose Its Greatest Champion
South Africa’s IPP industry is shocked by the decision of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the Department of Energy (DoE) requesting the Head of the IPP Office, Karen Breytenbach, to vacate her position.
Breytenbach, a true leader, has been the champion for a diverse and sustainable energy future and been an active mouthpiece for an industry that is continuously battered by poor political governance.
With nine months left on her contract at the IPP Office, Breytenbach told Bloomberg reporters that “there was no reason” for early termination. “They want to appoint someone else,” she said.
In a Twitter post, Professor Anton Eberhard noted that Breytenbach has overseen R209 billion investment in 112 renewable energy projects since 2011 with “zero corruption”.
IRENA And RES4Africa Explore Public-Private Initiatives
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the RES4Africa Foundation have agreed to cooperate to increase the speed of renewable energy development in Africa in the pursuit of the continent’s sustainable development and climate goals.
The ‘Letter of Intent’ will see the two parties work together to explore public-private initiatives, knowledge creation opportunities, capacity building programmes and strategic dialogues to accelerate renewable energy deployment in Africa.
The RES4Africa Foundation works to address the water-energy-food nexus and promote the adoption of renewable energy in Africa.
IRENA estimates the continent could meet nearly a quarter of its energy needs from indigenous and clean renewable energy by 2030, but to realize this potential a step-up in renewable energy action is necessary.
“To achieve the sustainable development goals and tackle climate change we must grow the share of global energy supplied by renewables to 50% by mid-century,” said Francesco La Camera, Director-General of IRENA during the signing event.
“That requires a significant scale-up of renewable energy deployment. Stronger partnerships can accelerate the energy transformation lifting millions of people in rural villages across Africa out of energy poverty and delivering socioeconomic outcomes,” La Camera added.
Growing engagement in Africa
IRENA’s engagement with Africa on renewables dates back to the Agency’s formation nearly a decade ago. A key component of IRENA’s engagement and its effort to promote regional market integration in Africa, has been through the development of the Clean Energy Corridors.
IRENA’s work informed the objectives of the African Renewable Energy Initiative, which now targets to develop 300GW of renewable energy capacity across the continent by 2030.
IRENA analysis suggests a transformation of Africa’s energy sector with renewables by 2030, would result in carbon-dioxide emission reductions of up to 310 megatonnes per annum and create millions of jobs across the continent.
Source: Esi-Africa.com
Ghana: Tema Oil Refinery Explains Why It Incurred GHS186Million Loss
Ghana’s only refinery, Tema Oil Refinery, has offered explanation to why the refinery incurred the GHS186 million loss in the first four months of the 2019.
According to the management of the refinery, the amount was as a result of financial interest charges and exchange rates differences on TOR’s outstanding legacy debts yet to be paid from the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA) proceeds.
The explanation follows reports that the West African nation’s refinery had lost about GHS 186million in the first four months of 2019.
“TOR made a gross profit in the first quarter of this year, “indicating that TOR is a potentially profitable company,” a statement signed by Daniel Appiah, General Manager in –charge of Finance said.
The statement admitted that TOR has been facing liquidity challenges culminating in the company’s inability to implement its annual budgets.
“TOR’s revenue targets are not being achieved due to lack of working capital to procure crude oil for processing on a continuous basis. However, fixed costs continue to be incurred,” the statement added.
Below is TOR’s Variance Report
VARIANCE REPORT 2019
Below is TOR’s Variance Report
VARIANCE REPORT 2019 Nigeria: NPC Issues Award Letters To Exchange Crude For Imported Fuel
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has issued award letters for contracts to exchange crude oil for imported fuel.
A total of 15 groupings, with at least 34 companies in all, received award letters.
On May 2, 2019, NNPC announced that 132 firms had submitted bids for the 2019 Direct Sale of crude oil and Direct Purchase of petroleum products scheme (DSDP).
The corporation said it had saved $2.2 billion through the scheme since its inception.
The winning groups include: BP/Aym Shafa, Vitol/Varo, Trafigura/AA Rano, MRS,Oando/Cepsa, Bono/Akleen/Amazon/Eterna, Eyrie/Masters/Cassiva/Asean Group, Mercuria/Barbedos/Petrogas/Rainoil, UTM/Levene/Matrix/Petra Atlantic, TOTSA, Duke Oil, Sahara, Gunvor/Maikifi, Litasco /Brittania-U, Mocoh/Mocoh Nigeria.
The NNPC stated it would supply 10% of its crude oil export to India to help resolve a growing energy crisis in the country.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Alhaji Mele Kyari, said Nigeria would continue to support India’s energy security challenge in whatever way it could.
Also, the recent Memorandum of Understanding in energy security between Nigeria and India would, further, strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Hence, NNPC would ensure the current volume of crude oil supply from Nigeria to India was secured for the collective interest of both countries.
The NNPC GMD said there were lots of untapped investment opportunities in the country’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) sector.
He expressed NNPC’s willingness to aggressively develop and improve LPG infrastructure and consumption in the
country.
The Indian High Commissioner, Mr. Abhay Thakur, thanked the NNPC’s management for the recent renewal of the crude oil lifting term contracts for three Indian companies that participated in the bid exercise.
Mr. Abhay demanded increased allocation in the crude oil supply from Nigeria, given the increasing energy needs of India.
He disclosed that India was ready to provide credit lines and expertise to help the NNPC revamp its massive oil infrastructure across the country.
“India is prepared to offer Nigeria, particularly the NNPC, a credit line mechanism to help her in the areas of refinery maintenance, construction, security, surveillance and anything possible.
“Our expertise in Information Technology (IT) is available as well. We are ready to cooperate with NNPC to boost our bilateral relations,” Mr. Abhay said.