Page 20 - AfrOil Week 40 2022

AfrOil NEWS IN BRIEF AfrOil

with up to 6 months.
Having recently completed work in the Gulf
of Mexico for Pemex, the Blackford Dolphin
will mobilize to Las Palmas for its special peri-
odic survey prior to commencing operations in
Nigeria.
Dolphin Drilling was recently listed on the
Euronext N-OTC list, and expects the company
to be listed on Euronext Growth in late October.
Dolphin Drilling, October 4 2022
Searcher rectifies
“We have deactivated 395 illegal refineries; we vulnerable, and put a stop to the subsidies.
have taken down 273 wooden boats, we have “President Malpass emphasized the impor- Sudan 2D as 3D seismic
destroyed 374 illegal reservoirs, we destroyed tance of integrating climate and development,
1,561 metal tanks,” Kyari told the Senate ad hoc as well as the need for an enabling policy and campaign advances
committee on oil theft in Nigeria. regulatory environment alongside strengthened
“We have seized over 49 trucks and burnt institutions in the energy sector,” a World Bank Searcher, a leading service provider of global
them down; we have discovered illegal oil pits statement said. multi-client geoscience data, has announced its
of 898 so far, and 1,219 cooking sites have been The Nigerian government has estimated Sudan 2D Rectified Seismic Dataset, in coop-
taken down.” that it will cost the country NGN6.72 trillion eration with the Sudan Ministry of Energy and
In September, Minister of State for Petroleum ($15.5bn) for the entirety of 2023. The Central Petroleum.
Resources of Nigeria Timipre Sylva revealed that Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has asked the govern- The Sudan 2D Rectified Seismic Dataset
the lack of oil revenues had caused a serious hit ment to “jettison the current fuel subsidy policy” consists of 18,000 km of data to which Searcher
to the Nigerian economy, as the country had due to the high cost to the economy. has applied its proprietary post-stack reprocess-
failed to hit its OPEC quota. bna/IntelliNews, October 3 2022 ing method, that rectifies navigation, metadata,
bna/IntelliNews, October 5 2022 amplitude, phase and time.
The rectified dataset reveals a stunning
Cost of Nigeria’s gasoline PROJECTS & COMPANIES array of super-giant syn-rift plays in the pre-
salt, capped by halite walls and canopies lying
subsidy higher than Dolphin Drilling confirms between mini-basins which offer a proven post-
salt fairway.
health, education and Blackford Dolphin newest, and as a consequence most exciting,
The Sudanese Red Sea is one of the world’s
defence budgets contract in Nigeria underexplored passive margins. Lying between
Egyptian and Eritrean waters on the Western
The petrol subsidy paid by the Nigerian govern- Dolphin Drilling has announced the award of side of the Red Sea, the 57,000 square km of
ment to help keep fuel affordable for the general the 12-month contract for Blackford Dolphin margin offshore Sudan is barely explored. On
population is higher than the budgets for health, by General Hydrocarbons Ltd (GHL) in Nigeria. the five open blocks in Sudan’s Red Sea area,
education and defence ministries, The Punch The contract has a total value of approximately only 14 wells have been drilled over the last 60
writes, in a piece examining calls to phase it out. $96mn. years since exploration began in the 1950s, yet
From January 2020 to June 2022, the gov- “We are proud to announce the final award these wells have proven a working hydrocarbon
ernment spent NGN3.92 trillion ($9bn) on the of the Blackford Dolphin contract, proving our system.
subsidy, while the budgets for education, health position in the niche moored semi-submersible “We are very pleased to release the recti-
and defence were NGN2.28 trillion ($5.3bn), market. Dolphin Drilling has attractive assets, fied Sudan 2D to allow industry to map mul-
NGN1.68 trillion ($3.9bn) and NGN3.06 trillion a strong team and a solid platform to leverage tiple prospects in the underexplored Red Sea.
($7.1bn), respectively. on the favourable market development with Searcher is preparing for a 2023 3D seismic
The subsidy has come under fire from both improved rates. The contract for Blackford Dol- campaign which is the next piece to the offshore
within and without Nigeria, with some arguing phin underlines the potential of the company Sudan oil puzzle. Modern 3D seismic imaging is
it takes a huge toll on the development of the and its assets, and we believe Dolphin Drilling essential to correctly image the salt and under-
country -- a major oil producer -- and that such will capitalize on the continued expected tight stand the hydrocarbon system development in
funds would be better spent used on raising the rig market for the rest of the fleet,” says Bjørnar the area,” said Neil Hodgson, VP Geoscience for
standard of living. Iversen, CEO at Dolphin Drilling. Searcher.
According to The Punch, the Nigerian Reference is made to the announcement from “This will be the crucial step on Sudan’s Red
Economic Summit Group believes that the Dolphin Drilling September on 2022, regarding Sea journey to offshore exploration greatness in
fuel subsidy is leading the country towards an a letter of award (LoA) for Blackford Dolphin preparation for the drilling of vast pre-salt and
impending fiscal crisis. in Nigeria. The company today announces the mini-basin plays in this soon-to-be super basin,”
In September, the World Bank told Nige- formal contract award, where the rig will com- Hodgson added.
ria that it would be ready to support Abuja in mence 12 months operations during the fourth The Sudan 2D Rectified Seismic Dataset is
phasing out the policy. According to World quarter of 2022 with a total contract value of now available for industry licensing on Search-
Bank president David Malpass, Nigeria should approximately $96mn. er’s sAIsmic on-demand platform.
increase social assistance for the poor and GHL has the right to shorten the contract Searcher, October 3 2022

P20 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 40 06•October•2022