Page 17 - AfrOil Week 33

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

Block 11B/12B is home to the Brulpadda discovery (Image: Total)

This prospect lies within the same sequence as the world.”
Brulpadda, where the French company discov- Mantashe went on to say that the South
ered large oil reserves in 2019. It will be drilled African economy would reap the benefit of the
over a period of 180-300 days. drilling project. The French firm will spend the
The partners will use the Deepsea Stavanger, equivalent of $400mn to drill the Luiperd-1 well,
a rig owned by Norway’s Odfjell Drilling, to sink and ZAR1.5bn ($85.9mn) of the total will go to
Luiperd-1. The rig was mobilised from Norway local companies that provide training, contract-
in July and reached Cape Town last week. ing, offshore and hospitality services, he said.
Gwede Mantashe, South Africa’s Minister Block 11B/12B lies off the country’s southern
of Mineral Resources and Energy, asserted last coast in the Outenqiua Basin. It covers an area
week that Total’s plans were a sign of faith in the of around 19,000 square km and lies in waters
country’s hydrocarbon potential. ranging from 200 to 1,800 metres in depth.
“The arrival of the drill rig, following the Equity in the block is split 45% to Total, the
recent successful Brulpadda discovery, reaf- operator; 25% to Qatar Petroleum; 20% to CNR
firms confidence in South Africa as an invest- International (South Africa) and 10% to Main
ment destination of choice for the exploration Street 1549 Proprietary, in which Africa Energy
of oil and gas,” he said in a statement. “This is holds a 49% stake. (The other 51% is held by
despite the negative impact of the COVID-19 Arostyle Investments, a black-owned South
[coronavirus] pandemic on economies around African company.) ™

Work on Bentiu refinery nearly complete

SOUTH SUDAN SOUTH Sudanese NOC Nile Petroleum Corp. Yugusuk noted that Juba currently relies on
(Nilepet) has announced that it is nearing com- oil revenues for around 80% of its budget, add-
pletion on work to rehabilitate the 5,000 barrel ing that the full operation of the refining net-
per day (bpd) Bentiu oil refinery in the country. work would herald an era of diversified exports,
The director-general of Nilepet’s Down- returning hard currency from selling refined
stream Directorate, James Loteka Yugusuk, said products. There are plans in place to export
on August 14 that completion of the work would refined products to neighbouring Ethiopia,
allow South Sudan to reduce fuel imports. The which currently relies on imports of just under
Bentiu facility in oil-rich northern Unity State 2bn litres per year.
was damaged during conflict that broke out in Work was also ongoing on a 17,000 bpd
December 2013. According to Safinat, the main refinery in Tangrial, Upper Nile State in 2013,
investor in Bentiu, pre-commissioning and pro- and it is presumed that this unit is included in
duction began in 2014, although it was subse- the master plan.
quently damaged during military action. Restoration works began at Bentiu in
The refinery’s rehabilitation falls under December 2018 but relied on government sup-
Nilepet’s strategic 5-year master plan, which also port to minimise risk from ongoing conflict,
involves the construction of five refineries close and Juba had anticipated the facility to resume
to the country’s oilfields. This is expected to align operations last year.
with previous plans to expand South Sudan’s In 2018, local firm Trinity Energy won a
total refining capacity to more than 100,000 bpd, contract to build an oil refinery near the Paloich
though given the situation, Downstream MEA oilfield, though little has been heard about this
(DMEA) sees such a target as hugely ambitious. project since. ™

Week 33 19•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P17