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AfrOil POLICY AfrOil
He did concede last week, though, that Tullow’s ability to launch production on schedule in 2022 was no longer certain.
“The collapse of the agreement might have an impact on [the date of] first oil because we had estimated that it would come three years after the final investment decision [had] been signed,” he commented.
The permanent secretary was speaking on the same day that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said during an industry conference in Kampala that he was in contact with all the parties to Tullow’s farm-out deal and expected to see a resolution soon.
This statement was Museveni’s first public comment on the matter.
PROJECTS & COMPANIES
Nilepet comments on 2020 licensing round, future plans
SOUTH SUDAN
SOUTH Sudan has reiterated its commitment to launching its next licensing round in the near future. A representative of the national oil com- pany (NOC) Nilepet said during an industry conference in the Ugandan capital of Kampala last week that Juba was gearing up to unveiling information on the seven blocks slated for inclu- sion in the auctions.
Jacob Dut Chol, Nilepet’s director for plan- ning and projects, said last week that the com- pany would take its next steps later this month. More specifically, he said Nilepet intended to identify the blocks that will be offered to inves- tors at this year’s Africa Oil & Power (AOP) conference, which is due to take place in Cape Town, South Africa, on September 9-11. He did not name any of the blocks or say when the South Sudanese government would begin accepting offers.
His statements were in line with the South Sudanese government’s previous announce- ments on the matter. Officials in Juba reported earlier this year that Awow Daniel Chuang, the country’s petroleum minister, would reveal details on South Sudan’s 2020 licensing round
during the AOP conference in Cape Town. (They also stated that Chuang would open a tender for an environmental audit of South Sudan’s producing oil deposits in late October, during the annual South Sudan Oil & Power conference.)
Chol went on to say that Nilepet was look- ing into several ambitious expansion projects. In the upstream sector, he said, the company is interested in taking ownership of the explora- tion block known as DC by 2022. It has already begun discussions with the Ministry of Petro- leum on potential sources of funding for this project, he noted.
He did not provide any further details on DC or say whether Nilepet intended to team up with any partners at the block. The NOC has already formed partnerships with outside investors to explore and develop a number of other fields, he commented.
In the downstream sector, he added, Nilepet wants to build five new oil-processing plants by 2022. These refineries will have a combined throughput capacity of up to 150,000 barrels per day (bpd), he said.
Nilepet hopes to launch its next licensing round next year. (Photo: Global Witness)
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 39 02•October•2019
