Africa Surveyors May-June issue 2023 digital

NEWS BRIEFS
Petrofac wins facilities management contract for
FPSO offshore West Africa
Petrofac has been awarded a facilities
management contract by CNR
International (CNRI) offshore the Ivory
Coast, West Africa.
The initial three-year, multi-million dollar
contract will see Petrofac’s Asset Solutions
business providing integrated services for
the Espoir Ivoirien Floating Production
Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel. Around
110 personnel currently supporting the
FPSO, including those onshore and on the
vessel, will transition to Petrofac from BW
Offshore following the recent sale of the
vessel to CNRI. The transition of people and
operatorship is expected to complete before
the end of July.
Woodside sanctions 3D survey on prospective
offshore Namibia license
Woodside sanctions 3D survey on prospective
offshore Namibia license | image: courtesy
Nick Shorten, Chief Operating Officer for
Petrofac’s Asset Solutions business, said,
"We bring our considerable global FPSO
experience to the Ivory Coast, adding to
our portfolio of service contracts in Africa.
Petrofac is expanding across the continent,
providing local jobs, developing local skills
and collaborating with local partners.
This latest award builds on contract successes
achieved throughout 2022, including
decommissioning in Mauritania for Tullow
Oil, operations and maintenance for Tullow
Oil in Ghana and the provision of offshore
operations services for bp’s Greater Tortue
Ahmeyim (GTA) Project, including an FPSO, in
Mauritania and Senegal.
3D seismic survey over an area of at least
5,000 sq km and will in addition pay
Pancontinental $1.5 million in cash. If it
exercises the option, Woodside will drill the
first exploration well, carrying the costs of
the existing partners.
Acquisition of the survey is set to start this
month, with fast-track processed results to
be delivered in June.
Pancontinental has reportedly also paid
$1.5 million to enter an option agreement
with another of the licensees, Custos
Investments, on acquiring an additional 1%
interest, lifting Pancontinental’s share in
PEL87 (post-completion of the transaction
with Woodside) to 20%.
Africa Oil to acquire
additional stake in block
offshore South Africa for
$10.5M
When the deal is completed, Africa Oil’s
stake in the block will rise to 26.25% while
Azinam holds a 20.00% stake and Ricocure
(Proprietary) Limited holds the remaining
53.75% interest. |Image: Courtesy
Africa Oil Corp (TSX:AOI) said it has
entered an agreement to buy an
additional 6.25% interest in Block
3B/4B in the Orange Basin off the coast of
South Africa for $10.5 million in cash. The
company said it signed a legally binding
Letter of Intent (LOI) with Azinam Limited, a
wholly owned subsidiary of Eco (Atlantic) Oil
& Gas Ltd for the additional stake.
The cash consideration of $10.5 million
will be paid in tranches, starting with
$2.5 million within 30 days after signing
the LOI and another $2.5 million when the
government approves the transfer of the
stake. The company will pay $4.0 million on
the completion of a farm-out deal to a third
party and the final $1.5 million on spudding
the first exploration well on the block.
The plan is to farm out up to a 55% gross
working interest in the Block. When the deal
is completed, Africa Oil’s stake in the block
will rise to 26.25% while Azinam holds a
20.00% stake and Ricocure (Proprietary)
Limited holds the remaining 53.75% interest.
Pancontinental Energy has granted
Woodside Energy an option to take a
56% interest in the deepwater PEL87
exploration license in the Orange Basin
offshore Namibia.
The 10,970-sq-km concession, which contains
the extensive Saturn turbidite complex, is
on trend with Total and Shell’s recent Venus,
Graff, La Rona and Jonker oil discoveries, and
adjacent to acreage held by Chevron and Galp.
Woodside will cover the cost of a $35-million
Toronto-based Sintana Energy, which has
an indirect interest in Custos, said that
while the license area had been mapped
previously with good quality technical data,
the new survey would allow the identified
prospects to be matured for drilling.
The semisub Deepsea Bolllstar reportedly
made the Jonker-1 Cretaceous light oil
discovery earlier this year. TotalEnergies is
preparing to drill further exploration and
appraisal wells on its Namibian deepwater
permits in the next few months.
The company said an independent review
reported that Block 3B/4B has total unrisked
gross prospective resources of approximately
4 billion barrels of oil equivalent and put the
probability of success from 11% to 39% over
the 24 prospects identified.
Block 3B/4B covers an area of 17,581 square
kilometres within the Orange Basin off the
coast of South Africa. This block lies to the
southeast and on trend with number of oil
discoveries including Venus and Graff.
4 May-June issue l 2023 www.africasurveyorsonline.com