Page 11 - AfrOil Week 36 2019

AfrOil
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrOil
inthearea,”saidKristianJohansen,CEOofTGS. “The underexplored offshore Egyptian Red Sea area is made up of large, untested structures that offer exceptional growth opportunities for oil companies.”
Schlumberger and TGS have a long-term commitment with the Egypt Ministry of Petro- leum and South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (GANOPE) to acquire and process seismic data and promote the prospec- tivity of the Egyptian Red Sea. GANOPE is responsible for managing Egypt’s hydrocarbon resource potential under latitude line 28°.
Schlumberger, September 06 2019
Sonadrill joint venture contract award Sonadrill Holding, Seadrill’s 50:50 joint ven-
ture with an affiliate of Sonangol, has secured a nine well contract with six options, each for one well, in Angola for the Libongos drillship. The estimated total contract value is $101mn with commencement expected late in the third quar- ter of 2019 and running to early 2021.
The Libongos is the first of two Sonangol owned drillships to be bareboat chartered into Sonadrill along with two Seadrill-owned or managed units. Seadrill will manage and operate the four units on behalf of Sonadrill.
Seadrill, September 04 2019
Airborne Oil & Gas secures
TCP Flowlines contract with
supermajor in West Africa
Gas, said: “This is an important milestone in our company’s history, as we believe it to be the first TCP Flowline to be installed in West Africa, marking the breakthrough of TCP technology in the subsea market in this region. From now on, any asset director, country manager, buyer or engineer can simply choose a ‘no corrosion’ solu- tion to be manufactured, installed and deployed quickly and cost effectively.”
The total installed cost of TCP has proved to offer significant benefits to the operator’s pipe- line replacement projects, particularly for water injection lines which often suffer from corrosion.
Paul McCafferty, vice president for Europe and Africa at Airborne Oil & Gas added: “The lightweight nature of TCP means that our client is able to install the flowlines from its existing field support vessel, without the need to bring in a dedicated construction vessel. This provides an estimated 40% reduction in the total cost of installation. Combined with the low operating costs associated with using the non-corrosive TCP Flowline, this demonstrates the significant potential of the use of TCP in Africa and other brownfield markets around the globe.” September 03 2019
PRODUCTION
Somalia keen to showcase
untappedoilandgas
potential to the world
Following the signing of a new Petroleum Law and Revenue Sharing Agreement in May of this year, as well as the unveiling of its first ever off- shore licensing round (15 blocks covering 75,000 square km), the Horn of Africa nation is keen to show the world that it is open for business.
The law breathes new life into a dormant Somali oil and gas sector. Several concessions were awarded to the majors in the late 1980s, but Civil War erupting in the country led to a force majeure declaration. Since the government col- lapse in 1993, insecurity and lack of infrastruc- ture have largely rendered the region a no-go for Western companies, leaving local warlords and militias to claw out territories.
Almost 30 years later, Somalia is ready to shake-off past woes and attract global participa- tion. This effort is being spearheaded by Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Abdirashid Mohamed Ahmed, who recently commented, “This year is a landmark in the development of Somalia’s natural resources ... The Ministry has worked successfully with the federal mem- ber states to create an equitable and transparent framework to develop natural resources for the
greater good of Somalia.”
As part of its efforts, Somalia is expected to
honour most legacy contracts. An agreement has already been reached with Royal Dutch Shell and ExxonMobil to settle rental fee payments for offshore blocks that are part of a dormant joint venture. However, it does not seem that either company is rushing back into the country, with Shell stating: “The payment does not affect force majeure status, which remains in place.”
Despite this, Ahmed has reason to hope that investment will begin to flow into Somalia. Seis- mic surveys conducted by British companies Soma Oil & Gas and Spectrum Geo suggest the country has promising offshore oil reserves of up to 100bn barrels. What’s more, recent oil finds in Uganda and huge gas discoveries offshore Tanzania and Mozambique mean that oil com- panies have flocked to East Africa in recent years. Somalia could well become a beneficiary of this trend.
Ahmed is attending Africa Oil Week 2019 in Cape Town this November. He will use this opportunity to lay out the future vision and objectives of the Somali national oil and gas sector in front of financiers and operators. Paul Sinclair, the summit’s director of government relations, commented: “We are working closely with the Minister to ensure that the global pri- vate sector benefits from exclusive opportuni- ties going live in a Somali National Showcase at AfricaOilWeek.”
Africa Oil Week, September 09 2019
Airborne Oil & Gas has been awarded a large contract from a supermajor through Oceaneer- ing International Inc to supply thermoplastic composite pipe (TCP) flowlines for deployment in West Africa.
It is believed to be the first TCP solution of this type utilised in the region and is expected to save the operator up to 40% on total installation costs.
The contract builds on a long-standing rela- tionship between Airborne Oil & Gas and the E&P business on the qualification and deploy- ment of TCP and marks a significant milestone for Airborne Oil & Gas in supplying TCP for permanent subsea applications.
TCP is a non-metallic, composite pipe which delivers high levels of corrosion and fatigue resistance and therefore a significantly extended service life.
Under the contract in West Africa, the world’s leading manufacturer of TCP will provide the supermajor with a 4-km, 7.1-inch (180.3-mm) ID, 160-bar design pressure TCP Flowline for water injection, replacing existing corroded flowlines in the field.
Martin van Onna, CCO at Airborne Oil &
Week 36 10•September•2019
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