Page 15 - AfrOil Week 39 2022

AfrOil NEWS IN BRIEF AfrOil

PIPELINES & TRANSPORT
GASCO connects BP’s

offshore Raven natural gas
field to butane extraction

plant in Al-Amirya

Egyptian Natural Gas Co. (GASCO) has com-
pleted the pipeline linking up BP’s Raven nat-
ural gas field in the offshore Mediterranean to
the butane extraction plant in Al-Amirya within
the framework of the petroleum sector strategy,
which aims to maximise the benefit from the
production of natural gas and its derivatives Tullow announced a $1.9bn merger with empire and to help Egypt pay off its foreign debt,
to achieve the highest added value from the Capricorn in June with a large asset portfolio which climbed from $37bn in 2010, before the
country’s natural gas resources, media sources from Egypt to West African Ghana. Yet later Arab Spring uprisings, to $158bn as of March,
reported. more than a quarter of Capricorn’s shareholders according to Egyptian central bank figures,
The project will feed Al-Amirya gas plant said that the deal undervalued the company. since which time the Egyptian pound has lost
with up to 100mn cubic feet (2.83mn cubic NewMed is one of the largest gas producers more than 22% of its value against the US dollar.
metres) per day of natural gas from the Raven in the Mediterranean, having finalised a merger Egypt has $83.3bn of foreign-currency debt out-
field. This project represents the second phase of with Israel’s Enlight Renewable Energy earlier standing, including more than $5bn dollar- and
the project to link Raven to GASCO’s produc- this year. Capricorn has production and explo- euro-denominated securities coming due in the
tion facilities. ration operations in the UK, Egypt, Mexico and fourth quarter, according to data compiled by
The first phase, which began operating in Suriname. Bloomberg.
May 2021, connected a 70-km pipeline from the bna/IntelliNews, September 29 2022 bna/IntelliNews, September 27 2022
Raven field in the Rashid area to the Western
Desert gas complex with up to 350mn cubic feet Egypt plans to privatise
(9.91mn cubic metres) transportation capacity. PERFORMANCE
In the third phase, to be complete in the third military-owned firms
quarter of 2023, the quantity supplied to the United Oil & Gas releases
Western Desert gas complex is expected to be Safi and Wataniya
increased even further. H1-2022 results, plans to
bna/IntelliNews, September 27 2022 Petroleum by year-end
Egypt plans to privatise two military-owned raise production
INVESTMENT firms following their restructuring before the MENA-focused United Oil and Gas (UOG) with
end of 2022, according to a cabinet statement. a portfolio of production, development, explo-
Capricorn Energy plans The army is offering to sell to private investors ration and appraisal assets released its results for
the first half of 2022, promising to significantly
the National Company for Producing and Bot-
to merge with NewMed tling Water (better known by the brand name increase output levels from the current group
Safi), and Wataniya Petroleum, the owner of gas working interest production average of 1,552
in Israel-Egypt venture filling stations. barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), add
Both companies are owned by the National reserves and boost the longer-term value of the
Capricorn Energy has announced plans to Service Products Organisation (NSPO), the Abu Sennan licence in Egypt.
merge with Israel’s NewMed Energy, scrapping umbrella organisation that owns the military-in- The company said its active drilling pro-
a tie-up previously agreed with Africa-based dustrial complex’s consumer subsidiaries. The gramme continues, with three out of five wells in
Tullow Oil as shareholders did not approve the government is targeting to partially dispose of the 2022 programme now drilled. The successful
deal on concerns over valuation and strategic these assets to an anchor investor, most probably ASD-2 development well was brought on stream
rationale, according to a statement on Thursday, from the Gulf, before offering an equity share on in March, just six days after well completion.
September 29. Yet both firms have to approve the the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX). ASV-1X exploration well did not yield com-
deal officially. The potential Capricorn-NewMed Established in 1979, the NSPO is responsible mercial volumes, but encountered evidence for
deal would create an Israel-Egypt-focused gas for meeting the production needs of the military the migration of hydrocarbons de-risking this
producer, including NewMed’s stake in Israel’s and local market demand for various crucial element of the petroleum system in this area of
major Leviathan offshore field. The aim of the developmental sectors. Its portfolio spans com- the licence. Moreover, AJ-14 development well
new entity is to expand to the LNG market, so panies in agricultural and food industry, manu- encountered seven metres of net pay.
meeting Europe’s growing gas demand. facturing, engineering, services and mining. The operations programme continues, with
NewMed shareholders would own 90% of the The Egyptian military is selling some of its well stimulation expected to deliver production
new venture and would pay Capricorn share- assets under pressure from international lend- rates in line with pre-drill estimates of 300 bar-
holders a special dividend of $620mn. ers to curtail its vast and sprawling economic rels per day (bpd) gross of oil.

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