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Senegal postpones bidding round until November 4
SENEGAL
SENEGAL’S government was due to launch a new licensing round last week, but it has post- poned bidding by nearly a month.
Oil Minister Mahamadou Makhtar Cisse told Reuters last week that Dakar had decided to open up bidding on November 4 and not on October 9 as previously scheduled. Senegalese authorities took this decision because certain contract docu- ments were not finalised in time for the original deadline, he said on the sidelines of an industry conference in Cape Town.
When asked whether a scandal involving President Macky Sall’s brother had affected potential investors’ interest in the auctions, Cisse demurred. “We have not measured a negative impact,” he remarked.
The BBC reported earlier this year that Aliou Sall, the president’s brother, had been accused of fraud in relation to an offshore natural gas pro- ject that BP joined in 2017. Senegalese prosecu- tors began an inquiry into the allegations in June.
Reuters also quoted Mayadou Faye, the man- aging director of Senegal’s national oil company
(NOC) Petrosen, as saying that he hoped the licensing round would lead to the signing of contracts for 10-12 offshore blocks. Once the bidding opens, Dakar will be accepting offers for a period of six months, he said on the sidelines of the same conference.
Faye also said in a speech at the conference that Senegal hoped to draw attention to new upstream oil and gas development opportuni- ties, as well as LNG and gas-to-power projects, at a special event next year. Africa Oil & Power will host the first Senegal Oil & Power conference on May 28-28, 2020, he stated.
Senegal has recently reported several major gas discoveries in the offshore zone, near the border with Mauritania. BP (UK) and Kosmos Energy (US) have found sizeable reserves at Grand Tortue-Ahmeyim and Yaakar-Teranga and hope to use these fields to support two LNG projects. Meanwhile, Woodside Energy (Aus- tralia), Cairn Energy (UK) and FAR Ltd (Aus- tralia) are planning to extract both crude oil and natural gas from the SNE licence area.™
South Sudan unveils production goals
SOUTH SUDAN
A representative of South Sudan’s Petroleum Ministry reported last week that his country had set medium and long-term goals for oil production.
According to Arkangelo Okwang Oler, the ministry’s director-general for planning, training and research, South Sudan is currently extract- ing crude oil at the rate of 178,000 barrels per day and hopes to boost yields to 200,000 bpd within the next two years. In the long term, he said, the country will push output up even further, to 350,000 bpd.
“We are working on increasing the produc- tion of oil,” said Oler, who was speaking during an industry conference in Cape Town. He did not say exactly long South Sudan might take to bring output up to 350,000 bpd.
Prior to the outbreak of civil war in 2012, South Sudan was producing about 350,000 bpd of oil. Output levels have yet to recover, but offi- cials in Juba are optimistic that conditions will improve as a result of reconciliation between opposing factions.
Changes are due to occur in the short term. Last month, South Sudanese President Salva
Kiir Mayardit agreed to work with Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon, a former vice-president who has been leading the rebel faction known as Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-in-Op- position (SPLM-IO), to establish a transitional government.
Oler described the agreement between Kiir and Machar as a positive development, saying: “I am optimistic that we are moving toward a stable government.”
He also told the audience that the Petro- leum Ministry intended to launch its next bid- ding round before the end of the month. Awow Daniel Chuang, the head of the ministry, will officially open the tender for eight licence areas during the South Sudan Oil & Power conference, which is scheduled to take place in Juba on Octo- ber 29-30, he said.
“We are inviting companies to come and impart your technologies based on the best international practices,” he stated. “South Sudan is the current destination for investment.”
Juba intends to reveal the results of the licens- ing round before the end of the first quarter of 2020, he added. ™
Week 41 16•October•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P7