Page 8 - AfrOil Week 28

AfrOil PoliCy AfrOil
Libya’s lost French missiles found
libyA
FRANCE has acknowledged US-made Javelin missiles that it owned ended up in libya, at a camp belonging to the libyan National Army (lNA). In an account to the New York Times, a French official said the missiles had been intended to protect French forces in the North African state.
Despite French denials, the presence of the missiles on an lNA base has con rmed many suspicions that Paris is backing the eastern lib- ya-based group, and its leader, General Khalifa Hi er.
e NY Times quoted US o cials as saying they had investigated the serial numbers of the missiles and linked them to a shipment to France in 2010. A statement from Paris said French forces in libya had mislaid them a er they were found to be defective.
The Javelin missiles were discovered in Gharyan, a town 80 km south of Tripoli. is was seized by Government of National Accord (GNA) forces at the end of June, in a move seen as putting pressure on the lNA and Hi er. e lNA began besieging Tripoli in April.
The four missiles, which are capable of destroying any commonly used armoured vehi- cles, were initially thought to have been provided to the lNA by the United Arab Emirates. e
UAE strongly denied this. e Middle Eastern state has been previously cited in United Nations reports as providing materiel to the lNA, includ- ing warplanes and Russian-made surface-to-air missiles.
e discovery of the missiles, and blame on the UAE, has led to questions in the US over whether such arms should be supplied to that country. Had the UAE supplied US-made mis- siles to the lNA this would have breached both US laws and the UN embargo.
The lNA is reported to be in the process of a major new push to try to seize control of Tripoli.™
PRojECts & ComPAniEs
Lekoil leans into second phase at Otakikpo
nigERiA
lEKoIl expects production this year to be sta- ble, with growth hopes pinned to the next phase of development at otakikpo. In an operational update, the Nigerian minnow said production in the rst half year had been 5,822 barrels per day (bpd) of oil, with this anticipated to continue at the same level in the second half.
Net production to lekoil was 2,329 bpd in the rst half, with this predicted to be 2,324 bpd in the second half. During the rst half of 2018, the company had netted 2,042 bpd, it said on July 15.
Ahead of drilling beginning on the second phase of otakikpo, lekoil is focused on con- trolling costs – with the aim of reducing general and administrative spending by 25%. Capital expenditure on the rst phase of otakikpo is pro- jected to be $5.1mn for the year, it said, based on minor infrastructure work on the eld. Spending in the rst half on the asset was $2.7mn.
e major focus for the company is the sec- ond phase at this eld, which should allow pro- duction to reach 15,000-20,000 bpd gross.
In order to accomplish this, up to ve wells
will be drilled and infrastructure expanded. Site mobilisation is tentatively scheduled to begin in the third quarter of this year. lekoil announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at the beginning of the month, with Schlumberger and an unnamed major inter- national oil company (IoC). e latter also appointed Standard Chartered Bank as lead nancial advisor.
Capex on this second phase is expected to be $170mn, with lekoil responsible for $68mn.
otakikpo is in oMl 11, next to the shore in the south-east of the Niger Delta. lekoil Nige- ria has a 40% participating and economic stake in the eld, while lekoil has a 90% share in this unit, giving it an economic interest of 36%. e eld began producing in February 2017. e operator is Green Energy International.
An updated reserve assessment from McDaniel Associates & Consultants in June put 2P reserves at 48.6mn barrels gross, with 331.6mn barrels of gross aggregate stock tank oil initially in place (SToIIP). ™
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Week 28 16•July•2019