East African energy boom investments to take focus in budgets

Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania plan to allocate money in their annual budgets to spur investment in infrastructure to exploit oil and natural gas from deposits that companies including Tullow Oil are developing.

Ugandan and Kenyan oil discoveries, made in 2006 and 2012 respectively, and new gas finds off the coast of Tanzania that have boosted reserves to as much as 46 Tcf have seen East Africa become a frontier for petroleum exploration.

The three countries, along with Rwanda, which are all members of the East African Community, will present their budget statements for the financial year starting July 1.

The Kenyan Finance Ministry said in its 2014 budget policy statement that the government wants to “fast track” building a pipeline to export the crude.

Kenya also expects to increase its spending on infrastructure by 15% $2.9 billion in 2014-15 from a year earlier, according to the Treasury’s budget policy statement.

Tanzania is building the $1.23 billion Mtwara gas pipeline project with a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China, while Statoil and BG Group, are working on a project to build a LNG export plant. The government plans to present new natural gas rules to parliament in November aimed at helping the country get more benefit from its natural resources.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Giftelyon Multi-Sevices Int'l Ltd and services, UK, online.

Exxon reports fire, oil spill at Nigeria terminal

Exxon Mobil Corp. said thunderstorms caused a tank fire June 27 and an oil spill today, June 29, at the Mobil Producing Nigeria Qua Iboe Terminal it operates in Akwa Ibom state.

Offshore production and loading of oil continue, the Irving, Texas-based company said in an emailed statement. No fatalities or injuries were reported. The amount of oil lost to the fire and spill hasn’t been calculated, the company said.

Lightning ignited the tank and the fire was extinguished by noon local time June 27, according to the statement.

Lightning knocked out power to the terminal again today, resulting in a spill. Emergency response systems were activated to contain it, shoreline restoration has begun and relevant authorities and community leaders notified, according to the statement.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Giftelyon Multi-Sevices Int'l Ltd and services, UK, online.

Total starts production at CLOV, boosts Block 17 output to 700,000 bpd

Total, operator of Block 17 in Angola, has started up CLOV, a major deep offshore development located 140 km offshore Luanda, in line with the initial project schedule.

With a production capacity of 160,000 bpd, CLOV will develop proven and probable reserves of over 500 MMbbl. After Girassol, Dalia and Pazflor, CLOV is the fourth FPSO unit on Block 17.

"CLOV will contribute to increasing the Block 17 production to 700,000 bpd while also generating significant free cash flow for the Group. Block 17 will therefore become Total’s most prolific production site and bring us a step closer to achieving our production potential of 3 MMbpd by 2017,” commented Arnaud Breuillac, President Exploration & Production at Total.

Developing four fields (Cravo, Lirio, Orquidea and Violeta), the project comprises 34 wells and 8 manifolds connected by 180 km of subsea pipelines to an FPSO unit at water depths of 1,100 to 1,400 m. Measuring 305 m long and 61 m wide, the FPSO has a storage capacity of 1.8 MMbbl of oil. The gas produced on CLOV will be exported via a subsea line to the onshore Angola LNG liquefaction plant.

Angola

A subsea multiphase pump system will be used deep offshore to enable production of two different oil qualities from the oligocene reservoirs and the more viscous miocene reservoirs. A first for Total at this depth, this system will be used to boost the commingled fluid and enhance oil recovery.

The FPSO design minimizes its environmental footprint, with zero flaring under normal operating conditions and an “all electric” concept to increase on-site energy efficiency by producing only the quantity of electricity required to operate the facilities.

As part of Total’s commitment to increasing local content in its projects, a significant part of the CLOV development work was carried out in Angola. This represents more than 10 million man hours achieved in-country to complete fabrication and assembly on Angolan yards.

Total operates the block with a 40% interest, and its partners are Statoil (23.33%), Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited (20%) and BP (16.67%). Sonangol is the concessionaire for Block 17.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Giftelyon Multi-Sevices Int'l Ltd and services, UK, online.

Pura Vida upgrades reserve estimate for Nkembe block

Pura Vida Energy has announced an upgrade to its prospective resource assessment of the Nkembe PSC, offshore Gabon. Further technical work undertaken by the company has revealed a significant new play in the pre-salt within the Syn-rift interval where carbonate Coquinas reservoirs are anticipated to be present.

The inclusion of newly identified prospects increases the total gross mean unrisked prospective resources on block to 1,680 mmbo, 1,344 mmbo net to Pura Vida. The carbonate play is analogous to similar plays that have resulted in the discovery of several billion barrels of discovered oil offshore Angola and offshore Brazil. Pura Vida’s technical work has also identified several areas which contain multiple stacked prospects that have the potential to be attractive drill candidates that could be tested with a single vertical well.

Based on new interpretation on recent reprocessed seismic data undertaken by Pura Vida, the estimated net mean prospective resources on the Nkembe block has increased from 815 mmbo to 1,344 mmbo.
 
Pura Vida has identified several areas within the Nkembe block that contain multiple stacked targets. The drilling of stacked targets provides the ability to test prospects at differing stratigraphic levels through a single vertical well. Intersecting multiple prospects saves on drilling costs, increases the overall chance of making a commercial discovery, and in the event of success, allows for potential aggregation of resource potential.

The Moveni region in the south-western part of the block contains stacked prospects at the Gamba, Dentale and Syn-rift carbonate levels which have a net mean prospective resource un-risked potential of 286 mmbo and 603 mmbo respectively. A single well at this location has the potential to test a combined net prospective resource of 890 mmbo.

Dentex prospects directly overlie the larger and significant pre-salt level referred to as Palomite Deep. Of particular interest to Pura Vida is the Pompano prospect within the Palomite cluster, where stacked targets from the Batanga, Lower Anguille and the Cap Lopez lie directly above the Palomite Deep pre-salt play where the Gamba, Dentale and the Syn-rift carbonates are stacked. The combined net mean prospective resource, un-risked, potential of Pompano and Palomite Deep is 320 mmbo.

The Loba Oil Field also overlies the Loba Deep sub-salt target which provides an opportunity for a combination of a lower risk appraisal well for a production test of the post-salt Loba discovery with a test of the Loba Deep sub-salt exploration target.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Giftelyon Multi-Sevices Int'l Ltd and services, UK, online.

Sunbird-1 oil zone verified offshore Kenya

Pancontinental Oil and Gas reported it has verified that the recently completed Sunbird-1 well off the southern Kenyan coast has intersected an oil column the first ever oil discovered off the East African coast.

The gross oil column is assessed to be 14 m thick beneath a gross gas column of 29.6 m in a reefal limestone reservoir in the Sunbird Miocene Pinnacle Reef in area L10A. The corresponding net values are 9.2 m for the oil zone and 28.3 m for the gas zone. The Sunbird Reef is an ancient Miocene pinnacle reef buried beneath approximately 900 m of younger sediment.

Pancontinental believes the results are highly significant because they are the first proof of the presence a prospective oil system in the Lamu Basin offshore Kenya. The oil and gas have been geochemically typed in detail and the prospective source rocks have been dated and characterised for use in future exploration.

Analysis of the Sunbird results has been complicated by the loss of drilling mud, seawater and remedial cement pumped into the limestone reservoir during drilling operations.

Pancontinental has an 18.75% interest in the well and block L10A. Pancontinental has three extensive exploration areas in this highly prospective Basin covering a total area of approximately 15,000 sq km, including L10A. The detailed oil and gas geochemical data, which are confidential to the L10A Joint Venture partners, give the age and type of the oil source rocks, as well as other crucial data that Pancontinental believes places the L10A Joint Venture in a leading position to find commercial oil offshore Kenya.

The Operator of the Block L10A Petroleum Sharing Contract, BG Group, is continuing to analyse the well data and will recommend a future exploration programme using the well results.

The top of the Sunbird Miocene Pinnacle Reef was reached at 1,583.7 m sub-sea. The water depth is 723 m. Below the upper oil and gas zone, indications of low Wet Gas saturation were seen, although these are not considered to be volumetrically significant. The age and depositional environment of the oil source rocks have been determined by geochemical analysis, and remain commercially confidential to the L10A Joint Venture.

The presence of oil is supported by geochemical analysis of MDT samples, the pressure gradient of MDT samples, numerical modelling of the invasion of the oil zone and also fluorescence attributable to oil in samples. The reservoir zone was heavily flushed during well control operations, making determination of the oil and gas zones difficult.

Porosity and permeability of the hydrocarbon zone were favourable overall, and were very high in parts of the reservoir as evidenced by the loss of a large volume of drilling fluid.

L10A Consortium:

The Kenya L10A consortium consists of: BG Group (Operator) 50.00%, PTTEP 31.25% & Pancontinental 18.75%.

Pancontinental increases interest in L10B. Pancontinental advises that it has increased its interest in licence L10B, immediately to the south of L10A. The increase in interest is subject to the completion of documentation; however Ministerial approval has already been given.

The Kenya L10B consortium now consists of : BG Group (Operator) 75.00% & Pancontinental 25.00%.

Providing useful resources, articles and writings on crude oil, other petroleum products, energy and gas. By Giftelyon Multi-Sevices Int'l Ltd and services, UK, online.