Page 7 - AfrOil Week 26

AfrOil PERfoRManCE AfrOil
Eland readies for Gbetiokun boost
nIgERIa
PRODUCTION for Eland Oil & Gas increased 32% year on year, to 9,880 barrels per day (bpd), from January to May. is is up from the 7,505 bpd reported for the same period in 2018. Addi- tional production is coming, the Nigerian-fo- cused company said on June 25.
Full-year net production is expected to be 12,000-13,500 bpd, up 50% from 2018. By the end of 2019, output should be 17,000-19,000 bpd. Owing to delays with a rig and infrastruc- ture, this increase will be more weighted to the second half than rst thought.
Work on an early production facility (EPF) at the Gbetiokun eld is expected to result in new production starting in July. Initial gross output will be 12,000 bpd, it said, of which 5,400 bpd will be net to Eland. is will come from the Gbetiokun-1 and -3 wells.
“We are extremely proud that from the point of re-entry of the Gbietiokun-1 well in Novem- ber 2018, we will have achieved four producing strings with processing and full evacuation via shipping all within a period of 10 months. is also creates a fantastic foundation for the con- tinued development of the licence in early 2020 and beyond,” said Eland’s CEO, George Maxwell.
The EPF will process fluids from the first phase, with a nominal capacity of 22,000 bpd.
is allows scope for expansion from develop- ment wells to be drilled in 2019-20.
Tankers will carry crude from the EPF to the main OML 40 export link. is will allow for expansion over the next 12-18 months while a permanent solution is developed. is also brings the bene t of providing an alternative route for exports, should the pri- mary link be reduced or halt. Eland learnt the importance of alternative links in 2016-17, when the Forcados terminal was under force majeure.
e rst phase of new drilling on Gbetiokun will begin once the rig – which has been delayed – is commissioned, now anticipated to be com- pleted in July. is will cover the drilling of ve producers, with the rst two – Gbetiokun-4 and -5 – to be drilled back to back. Once these are completed, the EPF throughput should rise to around 20,000 bpd.
is will be followed by the drilling of the 78 million barrel Amobe exploration prospect and then Opuama-12 and -13. In 2020, it will drill another Opuama well before returning to Gbe- tiokun to complete rst phase work.
Eland is considering contracting a second rig, possibly in the fourth quarter of this year, which would allow for early appraisal on Amobe.™
More gas lined up for Tortue LNG
sEnEgal
BP has had success at its Greater Tortue Ahmeyim-1 (GTA-1) well, offshore Senegal. Kosmos Energy, which is working with the UK-based super-major on the area, announced the result on July 1, saying the well was expected to be a future producer for the Tortue LNG pro- ject. e result will be used to optimise develop- ment drilling plans.
New york and London-listed Kosmos said the GTA-1 was drilled on the eastern anticline. It found 30 metres of net gas pay in a high-quality Albian reservoir. It was drilled in 2,500 metres of water, 10 km inboard from the Guembuel-1A and Tortue-1 wells. It reached a total depth of 4,884 metres, with drilling carried out by the Ensco DS-12 rig.
Next up for the rig is the yakaar-2 appraisal well, also in Senegal, which should be spudded in the coming weeks. It will then go on to drill the Orca-1 exploration well in Mauritania, late in the third quarter.
“ e GTA-1 well con rms our expectation that the gas resource at Greater Tortue Ahmeyim will continue to grow over time and could lead to further expansion of this world-scale 10mn
[tonne per year] LNG project,” said Kosmos’ chairman and CEO, Andrew Inglis.
The official went on to note that Kosmos’ plans to reduce its stake in the project to 10% had “received considerable interest from the indus- try, with initial bids expected over the summer, and transaction conclusion anticipated by year end”.
Kosmos’ chief exploration officer, Tracey Henderson, talking at the Africa E&P Summit in May, had said the company wanted to remain a partner in the Tortue LNG project “but we want to reduce our involvement to a level that’s sus- tainable. Reducing our stake will cover our costs but also allow us to stay in it.”
e Tortue LNG project is due to produce rst gas in the rst half of 2022, with capacity of 2.5mn tpy under the rst phase, which could expand to 10mn tpy. ere are also plans for another two hubs, each with up to 10mn tpy of throughput, which could follow.
Under the December 2016 deal that saw BP buy into Kosmos' Senegal and Mauritania assets, the two companies also agree to work together across the broader West African region.™
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