The pandemic has been devastating for the global oil industry: explorers suspended drilling, manufacturers left wells idle, primary oil corporations put their assets up for sale, but the world continues to want oil, albeit in smaller quantities than a year ago. , and continue. want it. Exploration is not dead. He did not die in Africa, a hotbed for oil and fuel before the pandemic.
East African pipeline
Earlier this month, Total France and the Ugandan government signed a primary agreement to build a pipeline that will take Ugandan oil to the Kenyan coast. Two weeks later, the presidents of both countries signed their own $3. 5 billion infrastructure agreement.
The final resolution of investment in the pipeline is expected until the end of the year in a rare smart signal about the long-term demand for oil. Both Uganda and Kenya are new participants in the oil scene in the hope of joining the oil export network soon. If building a $3. 5 billion pipeline still makes economic sense for countries that are not among the richest in the world, there would possibly be some hope for oil demand.
Africa Energy, a Canadian exploration company, said last week that it had collided with oil on an offshore block in South Africa with reserves that may exceed those of an earlier discovery made through Total. A month before the discovery, Africa Energy doubled its stake in the consortium, exploring the block at 10%. Total is the operator.
Prospect Luiperd, Argus Media reports, is the largest of five offshore blocks in South African waters that have caught the attention of explorers. The consortium estimates that the bloc’s resources exceed 500 million barrels, but more importantly, according to Africa Energy, the Luiperd Block delivers up to 80% good fortune, “unprecedented in border exploration today,” company-leading executive Garrett Sodden said at an industry conference.
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Drilling in Zimbabwe
Drilling allocation is expected to cover about $15 million, Africa Oil and Power reported last week, adding that it is based on the promising effects of Exxon’s past exploration. In the 1990s, Exxon knew a domain that probably involved hydrocarbons, but desert allocation was deserted because it is behind oil, and dominance more likely involving fuel. The country’s government, which lately relies on one hundred percent of exports for its energy needs, also conforms to fuel. Lately he’s finishing a production, sharing agreement with Invictus on the occasion of a discovery of oil and fuel.
The Gambia license
British explorer PetroNor won a 30-year drilling license from the Gambian government before this month following an arbitration procedure involving two offshore blocks. After successful arbitration, PetroNor will have the right to explore one block and the other will move to a large “un nameless” oil company.
The new licence is based on a new shared production framework developed through the Gambian government, which PetroNor says is more favorable for explorers and producers. The company now has a year to drill into the offshore block.
Pandemic delays
Despite all the positive news from Africa’s border regions, the continent has not escaped the consequences of the pandemic that has destroyed much of the demand for oil and gas. in the Turkana region, which would delay Kenya’s ambitions to become an oil exporter until 2024, compared to an earlier plan to start sending oil by 2022.
The pandemic also delayed scheduled exploration drilling in Mozambique, following the distribution of new blocks as a component of a government tender. I intended to start this year, but “some adjustments” that the pandemic required boosted the calendar until 2021-2022.
One of the continent’s largest manufacturers is executing a new exploration strategy to increase its oil and fuel reserves. The Angolan government approved a plan this month, which would take effect until 2025, which would see the country accentuate its exploration activities to accumulate recoverable reserves and produce at least 1 million b/d until 2040.
In general, however, it appears to be higher in Africa’s border oil regions than in the generating regions inherited from the world.
By Irina Slav for Oilchusetts
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