Page 11 - AfrOil Week 01 2021

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The well, which lies in the WA-359-P explora- Mozambique LNG, following an attack by sus-
tion permit, was drilled to a total depth of 5,618 pected Islamists within the $20bn export pro-
metres measured depth (MD) to intersect the ject’s concession area.
Mungaroo Formation. The formation had been Militants with suspected links to Islamic State
estimated to contain a prospective recoverable have been battling government forces in north-
resource of 15 trillion cubic feet (424.8bn cubic ern Mozambique for three years, with attacks
metres). having grown more frequent over the past year.
“Ironbark was a world-scale prospect in a The latest assault on January 1 was on the village
highly prospective address, and it needed drill- of Quitunda, where Total is relocating commu-
ing. We got an answer, but it was not the one we nities as it builds export facilities and other infra-
wanted,” said NZOG CEO Andrew Jefferies. structure. It was repelled by government forces.
He added that it would take time before the dry The fighting is the closest yet to Total’s con-
hole’s implications for the play were understood. struction camp and the first attack to happen
WA-359-P had been expected to serve as a within the Mozambique LNG concession area.
backfill for the existing North West Shelf (NWS) It occurred under 1 km from an airstrip that the
liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project, given company has built to serve the project. Waitsia has
that the permit is located just 50 km from exist- In other news, the board of Saudi petrochem-
ing infrastructure. This plan now appears to be icals giant SABIC has backed the issue of $1.2bn reached a final
off the table, but Japan’s Mitsui & Co. and Beach in dividends from earnings in the second half of
recently greenlit the onshore Waitsia gas project 2020. The move comes after the company, which investment
to serve as a new source of feedstock for the giant was bought by national oil producer Saudi Ara-
export project. mco last summer, returned to profit in the three decision (FID) on
Beach said on December 23 that Waitsia, its months ending September 30, 2020, after incur- initial funding for
50:50 joint venture with Mitsui, had reached a ring three straight quarterly losses.
final investment decision (FID) on initial fund- Meanwhile in Nigeria, Waltersmith Petro- its second phase
ing for its 250 TJ (6.5mn cubic metres) per day man Oil has secured 2,000-4,000 barrels per day
second phase of development. The independent (bpd) in oil supplies for its modular refinery in of development
said full funding would be committed once cer- Imo State under a deal with Seplat Petroleum.
tain regulatory approvals and commercial con- The oil will be sourced from the Ohaja South
ditions were resolved, with these anticipated to field at the OML53 permit.
be wrapped up in the first quarter. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari
Waitsia is one of the country’s largest onshore launched the 5,000 bpd Waltersmith refinery in
discoveries in the last four decades. Beach’s man- late November. The facility also receives oil from
aging director Matt Kay described it as “a world- Waltersmith’s own Ibigwe marginal oilfield.
class, low-cost, onshore gas resource,” saying that
his company was “thrilled to be growing [its] If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
portfolio in Western Australia.” the downstream sector of Africa and the Middle East,
then please click here for NewsBase’s DMEA Monitor.
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping
Asia’s oil and gas sector then please click here for EurOil: Europe gains import options
NewsBase’s AsianOil Monitor. Southeast Europe started importing natural gas
from two new sources at the start of this year,
DMEA: Mozambique militancy on the rise cutting into the market share of Russia’s Gaz-
France’s Total has withdrawn workers from prom, the region’s main supplier.

Week 01 06•January•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11