Page 14 - AfrOil Week 35 2022

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

With this stake, the company will have the right geology of the licence area is analogous to that
to “undertake desktop studies of existing data of the fields that Renergen, a South African com-
sources and fieldwork in order to evaluate the pany, is developing within the framework of its
prospectivity of the permit area,” it explained. Virginia gas project, it noted.
These studies will be carried out over a period “This represents a ground-floor entry at
of 12 months, the statement said. minimal cost with no impact on the company’s
During this period, Panoro will have the guided 2022 capex or on Panoro’s overall corpo-
exclusive right to decide whether it wants to rate strategy,” it commented.
apply for an exploration right permit covering Panoro expressed particular interest in the
the entire site. site’s helium potential, noting that the material
The company did not say how much money was of high value and could be found in rela-
it intended to invest in this project. However, it tively high concentrations in North Karoo basin
did talk up the long-term potential of the pro- gas fields. It also called South Africa’s domestic
ject, pointing out that TCP 18 was located in a market an attractive prospect, pointing to rising
highly prospective area that had a proven and demand for gas in the country’s power-generat-
working natural gas and helium system. The ing sector. ™

BPCL expects Mozambique LNG

group to resume work in H1-2023

MOZAMBIQUE THE Mozambique LNG consortium is likely TotalEnergies declared force majeure after a
to resume activity in the first half of 2023, series of armed attacks by an Islamist group
according to India’s Bharat Petroleum Corp. known as Ahlu Sunna Wa-Jamo (ASWJ) on
Ltd (BPCL), a non-operating shareholder in the locations near its onshore construction site on
French-led group. the Afungi Peninsula. The French major has
BPCL chief executive Arun Kumar Singh said that it will resume work once Mozambican
said at his company’s annual general meeting authorities re-establish control over Cabo Del-
(AGM) on August 29 that the consortium was gado province, where ASWJ, which has ties to
on track to start work again soon since secu- Islamic State (Daesh) has been fighting since
rity conditions were improving in northern 2017.
Mozambique. Maputo has been working with the Southern
“Now, with the efforts of the Government of African Development Community (SADC), a
Mozambique’s forces, supported by a regional regional organisation, and the government of
coalition, progress is being made in improv- Rwanda since last year to counter the militants.
ing the security situation in the region, and the They have racked up many successes, but spo-
project will resume once the security situation radic attacks have continued.
is stabilised in a sustainable manner,” he stated. TotalEnergies and its partners are slated
Singh did not offer any further details. to extract gas from Area 1, which lies offshore
As of press time, TotalEnergies had not com- Mozambique within the Rovuma basin. They
mented on his statements about a return to work will process the gas at an LNG plant and onshore
in the first half of 2023. Patrick Pouyanné, the complex on the Afungi Peninsula.
French major’s CEO, had said in February that This facility will eventually have two pro-
his company might need a year before resuming duction trains, each with a capacity of 6.44mn
construction but declined to say whether any tonnes per year (tpy).
particular date had been targeted for a restart. The French major serves as operator of the
Pouyanné also stressed that the consorti- Mozambique LNG consortium through its sub-
um’s schedule would hinge on security condi- sidiary Total E&P Mozambique Area 1, which
tions in the area surrounding its construction holds a 26.5% stake. The remaining equity in the
site. “There is no pressure for us to exit out of consortium is split between two Japanese com-
force majeure. We know that when we will say, panies, Mitsui and Japan Oil, Gas and Metals
‘Yes, we can come back,’ it will take six months National Corp. (JOGMEC), which have a com-
really to start up again. But again, my priority, bined stake of 20%; Mozambique’s national oil
it’s a matter of sustainability of that and human company (NOC) ENH, with 15%; BPCL, with
rights. And so we’ll not relaunch the project as 10%; ONGC Videsh (India), with 10%; Beas
long as I see photos from refugee camps around Rovuma Energy Mozambique (a 60:40 joint
the site,” he remarked. venture between ONGC Videsh and Oil India
The Mozambique LNG project has been Ltd, or OIL), with 10%; and PTTEP (Thailand),
on hold since March 2021, when its operator with 8.5%. ™

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 35 01•September•2022