Page 5 - AfrOil Week 38 2019
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AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil
In late 2018, they made a final investment decision (FID) that provided for using some of the gas from Greater Tortue/Ahmeyim for domestic gasification projects in Mauritania and Senegal, leaving the rest to serve as feed- stock for a gas liquefaction plant. The first phase of the plant is supposed to begin operating in the first half of 2022. It will turn out 2.5mn tonnes per year of LNG, and production capacity may eventually reach 10mn tpy.
The group appears to be eyeing a similar plan for Yaakar-Teranga, with an eye towards launching development around 2023. Kosmos said that the field was large enough to support two stages of development, with gas from the first phase going to domestic buyers in Senegal and gas from the second phase feeding another LNG plant that will target export markets.
Investment in these activities will benefit Senegal by expanding the gas sector, which will be in a position to create jobs and lend support to related industries such as construction. But it will also bolster wider efforts to develop the economy by making gas available for power gen- eration, industrial use and residential consump- tion, as envisioned in Plan Senegal Emergent (PSE), a government initiative unveiled in 2014. The plan is designed to catapult the country into the middle-income group of countries by 2035.
Coming up next
In the near term, the BP-led group’s latest dis- covery – and its importance within the PSE framework – is likely to spur greater interest in Senegal’s next bidding round.
Earlier this year, Sall told Guillaume Doane, the CEO of Africa Oil & Power (AOP), that his government intended to auction off a set of offshore blocks in October. During a meeting with Doane in July, he said that Petrosen would
launch the bidding contest at AOP’s next annual conference, which will take place in Cape Town on October 9-11.
Petrosen has not revealed many details about the blocks it intends to offer in the upcoming auctions. But there is a good chance that the bidding contests will draw strong interest from international oil companies (IOCs). Firms with deepwater experience are likely to be keen on the opportunity to extract gas from fields in the inboard Mauritania/Senegal trend, espe- cially if BP and its partners are willing to grant other operators access to their liquefaction and transport facilities. Meanwhile, other potential investors may hope to emulate the example of Australia’s Woodside Energy, which has found crude oil in its offshore blocks, known as FAN and SNE.
In any event, Petrosen’s managing director, Mamadou Faye, has said he is optimistic about the upcoming bidding contest. In late July, he commented: “With several world-class oil and gas discoveries, Senegal has built an excellent reputation globally in the energy industry. Through a new licensing round and investment drive, we are eager to capitalise on Senegal’s strong track record to attract new operators and exploration.”
Doane also struck an upbeat note in July, saying: “With discovery after discovery, Senegal has distinguished itself as one of Africa’s leading exploration frontiers. Another licensing round is certain to draw interest from a wide variety of operators. Thanks to the leadership of Presi- dent Macky Sall, Senegal is a prime example of a country making energy work – creating an ena- bling environment for business to succeed [and] attracting huge international investments, while providing capacity for local power generation, industry and downstream development.”
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The
large enough
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to support two stages of development, with gas going to both domestic buyers and export markets
NIGER
CHINA National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) is working to establish a new transportation route that will allow it to export the crude oil it pro- duces in Niger.
According to the press office of Nige- rien President Mahamadou Issoufou, China National Oil and Gas Exploration and Devel- opment Corp. (CNOGEDC), a subsidiary of state-owned CNPC, began work last week on a 90,000 barrel per day (bpd) pipeline connecting the Agadem oilfield in Niger to south-eastern Benin.
It marked the start of construction in a cere- mony at the Agadem field, with President Issou- fou attending.
When finished, the pipeline will follow a 2,000-km route from south-eastern Niger to Seme, a port near the border between Benin and Nigeria. The Benin section of the link will be 687 km long. CNPC will have to spend $4.5bn to
build the pipeline, which is due to be completed by the end of 2021.
CNPC began extracting crude oil from Aga- dem in 2011. In 2015, members of Boko Haram, a Nigerian Islamist group, began staging attacks on the field and other oil infrastructure in the Diffa region of south-eastern Niger.
Concerns about security came to a head last November, after Boko Haram crossed the bor- der into Niger and killed eight members of a drilling team employed by the French company Foraco.
Niger’s government responded quickly, initialing an agreement with Benin in January 2019 on the construction of a new pipeline to Seme. Subsequently, CNPC concluded a deal on September 15, when Nigerien Oil Minister Foumakoye Gado and CNOGEDC’s president Wang Zhong Cai signed an agreement on the project in Niamey.
PIPELINES & TRANSPORT
CNPC starts building Niger-Benin oil link
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