Page 5 - GLNG Week 08 2022

GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG

with Wood Mackenzie, with guidance from project as well as supplying domestic needs,”
state-owned Société Nationale des Pétroles du he said.
Congo (SNPC). Additionally, Brazzaville has the support of
Few features of the GMP have been made Eni, the operator of Marine XII, the block that is
public yet, as the Ministry of Hydrocarbons described in the GMP as a “prime target” for the
has indicated that it wants to wait until the FLNG scenario. This is a clear advantage, given
Congo International Energy Summit (CIES) that Eni is already a major investor in ROC’s
takes place in Brazzaville in mid-June to reveal offshore zone; the company is familiar with the
more information. However, the ministry has region’s geological, marine and climatic condi-
stated that the GMP talks about making ROC tions, and it has established relationships with
a gas exporter while also addressing the issue of multiple ROC officials and contractors.
domestic gasification. But there will also be challenges, including
It has also offered some insights into the financial challenges. Thomson said he expected
approaches that Brazzaville is considering, as the small-scale FLNG scheme envisioned by
well as possible obstacles. For example, it has Brazzaville to be relatively costly. He also said he
declared that the government views floating expected that the price tag (and the complexity)
LNG (FLNG) as an optimal means of launch- of this undertaking would only increase if ROC
ing gas exports – and that the Marine XII block tried to bring any of the other international oil
was a “prime target” for FLNG projects. Addi- companies (IOCs) working in the offshore zone
tionally, it has acknowledged the relatively high on board.
cost of FLNG solutions and has pointed out that “[A] lot of the [gas] resource is in separate
changes in the policy regime would help make blocks/fields, which would add complexity and
gas projects more attractive to outside investors. require co-ordination with different operators,”
Policy reform could also help ensure that the he explained. The need to bring multiple par-
country retains its competitiveness and pricing ties together is also likely to add to the time and
stability, the ministry said. ROC is currently expense of gas utilisation initiatives, he said. Thomson said
ahead of other countries in the region with Thomson went on to say that it remained to
respect to establishing a supportive framework be seen whether Brazzaville demonstrated the he expected
for its domestic gas industry, as the success of necessary commitment to policy reform. This the small-scale
Eni’s current gas-to-power (GTP) initiatives is not the first time proposals for expanding the
demonstrates, it commented. use of ROC’s gas resources have come up for dis- FLNG scheme
cussion, he noted, and the government still has
Chances of success work to do with respect to introducing policies envisioned by
The question now is how likely ROC is to realise that draw investment to gas projects and shift
its ambition of becoming a gas exporter. the focus away from oil. Brazzaville to be
On the positive side, the country does appear “[The] project on Marine XII has been talked relatively costly.
to have enough gas to support the kind of ini- about for many years without tangible progress,”
tiative it is considering, according to David he said. “The value in Congo is still in oil, and
Thomson, vice-president for sub-Saharan without significant incentives, operators will be
Africa research at Welligence Energy Analyt- reluctant to go after the gas.”
ics. Thomson, who spoke to NewsBase shortly Thomson did speak to NewsBase before Des-
before Descalzi’s statements about Eni’s plans, calzi’s announcement, and his statement may
described ROC’s reserves as large enough to turn out to be overly cautious. Nevertheless, his
make an FLNG scheme of the type mentioned points are worth noting: While ROC does have
in the GMP a plausible option for future gas (and quite a lot of it), monetisation is not
development. “Congo does have sufficient gas likely to be easy and the process of turning the
resources to support a fairly small-scale FLNG country into a gas exporter may not be simple.™

Week 08 25•February•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P5