Page 9 - AfrOil Week 08 2020

AfrOil INVESTMENT AfrOil
LIBYA
THE head of Libya’s National Oil Corp. (NOC) said last week that he hoped the US govern- ment would intervene to help end the conflict between rival factions fighting for control of Tripoli.
The capital serves as the home base of the country’s Government of National Accord (GNA), but it has been under attack by forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA).
The latter group dominates most of Libya’s eastern and southern regions and has been working since January to gain power over the northern port cities. It has succeeded in block- ing the flow of oil and gas to processing plants and terminals in the ports and in preventing tankers from loading up with hydrocarbons for export.
During a meeting with Richard Norland, the US ambassador to Tunisia, NOC chairman Mustafa Sanalla said that Libya had been in a dire situation ever since the LNA had staged an attack on port facilities in Tripoli.
The crisis is crippling the oil sector, which accounts for most of Libya’s national income and generates most of the government’s reve- nues, he noted.
“The events of the last few days and weeks mean that the Libyan economy is sliding into a crisisandmoreLibyansaresuffering,”theNOC chief said.
 It will also cover “a disproportionate amount” of costs for the drilling of the Gazania-1 explora- tion well and other activities.
Under the other farm-out agreement, Panoro Energy will acquire 12.5% of equity in the joint venture. The Norwegian company will com- pensate Africa Energy for the stake by “[paying] a disproportionate amount of the Gazania-1 exploration well costs,” the statement said.
The deals will not affect Crown Energy, the Swedish company that owns indirectly the remaining 10% of equity in the Block 2B project.
Garrett Soden, the president and CEO of Africa Energy, said he expected the farm-out agreements to push the project forward. “We are excited to farm out part of our interest in Block 2B and add a carried well to our very active and potentially transformational 2020 drilling programme. Block 2B has the A-J1 oil discov- ery from 1988 in shallow water close to shore with significant contingent and prospective resources. The Gazania-1 well will target a rela- tively low-risk rift basin oil play up-dip from the discovery. We look forward to working with our new partners AziNam and Panoro to prove up more resource offshore South Africa,” he stated.
Daniel McKeown, the managing director of AziNam, also struck an upbeat note. “With this transaction, AziNam is positioned to deliver the first major oil production offshore South
Africa,” he said. “With A-J1 having flowed oil to surface and with the benefit of a significant database of well and seismic information, Azi- Nam believes that Block 2B has the potential to provide South Africa with its first major offshore oil production. This transaction will allow for a well to be drilled to test the wider potential of the A-J1 discovery.”
Likewise, Panoro’s CEO John Hamilton expressed optimism. “This farm-in to Block 2B is in line with Panoro’s renewed strategy of acquiring minority high-impact exploration interests close to existing discoveries and with clear routes to commercialisation,” he said. “We are particularly excited to work together with Africa Energy, which has played an impor- tant role in opening up the offshore oil and gas potential in South Africa. Exploration activity across Southern Africa is gearing up for a very busy period, and we look forward to drilling the identified prospects on this acreage.”
Block 2B lies off the western coast of South Africa in waters ranging from 50 to 200 metres deep. It covers a 3,604-square km section of the Orange Basin. South Africa’s Soekor, which has now been subsumed into PetroSA, drilled the A-J1 well there and found oil in 1988. The site has not been commercially developed, but 3D seismic data collected in 2013 show it to be highly prospective..™
POLICY
Head of Libya’s NOC says US could help mitigate harm to oil sector
Sanalla (R) and Norland (L) met in Tunis last week (Photo: NOC)
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