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Savannah in advanced discussions on

ExxonMobil assets in Chad, Cameroon

CHAD/CAMEROON UK-BASED Savannah Energy is looking to Oriental region. Together, these fields yielded
acquire a package of upstream and midstream 33,700 barrels per day (bpd) of oil on average in
assets in Chad and Cameroon from ExxonMo- 2020. They are served by the Chad-Cameroon
bil (US). pipeline, which follows a 1,070-km route from
In a statement dated June 2, Savannah south-western Chad to the Kome-Kribi floating
reported that it was in “advanced exclusive dis- storage and off-loading (FSO) vessel.
cussions” with the US super-major on a pro- The pipeline was built by ExxonMobil under
posal for the acquisition of a 40% equity stake a public-private partnership agreement and
in the Doba oil project in Chad and an effective began operating in 2003. It is operated by Came-
40% interest in the Chad-Cameroon oil pipe- roon Oil Transportation Co. (COTCO) and has
line. These assets constitute ExxonMobil’s entire a throughput capacity of 225,000 bpd, though
portfolio in the two countries, it noted. it only carried about 129,200 bpd last year. The
The statement did not reveal how much link is partly owned by Société des Hydrocarbu-
Savannah had offered to pay for the stakes. But res du Tchad (SHT), the national oil company
it did say that the parties’ discussions concerned (NOC) of Chad, which said last year that it
a proposal that would be classified as a reverse wanted to unload its 21% stake.
takeover transaction under the rules of the AIM
sub-market of the London Stock Exchange
(LSE).
It also noted that both ExxonMobil and its
partner Petronas (Malaysia) had decided last
year to unload their stakes in the Doba project
and the Chad-Cameroon link. According to
previous reports, the total value of these assets
has been estimated at around $1bn.
Savannah did not say when it might wrap up
talks with ExxonMobil or sign an agreement.
It did stress, though, that the proposal was still
under discussion and that the parties had not yet
reached an agreement.
The Doba oil project encompasses the
Bolobo, Komé, Maikeri, Miandoum, Moun-
douli, Nya and Timbré fields in Chad’s Logone The Doba project covers seven fields in south-western Chad (Image: ExxonMobil)

Four companies shortlisted in

Uganda’s second bidding round

UGANDA UGANDA’S Ministry of Energy and Mineral Robert Kasande, the permanent secretary of
Development has shortlisted four companies the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Develop-
as the top bidders in its second licensing round. ment, told reporters on June 2 that the govern-
Last week, the ministry revealed that it had ment’s next step would be to start negotiations
received at least six bids for the five blocks with these four firms. If the talks are successful,
included in the auctions. It said it had shortlisted Kampala will sign production-sharing agree-
TotalEnergies (France), DGR Global (Aus- ments (PSAs) for the blocks, he said.
tralia), PetrolAfrik Energy Resources (Nige- Two of the five blocks included in the auc-
ria) and state-owned Uganda National Oil Co. tions are Avivi, located in the Arua district, and
(UNOC) but did not reveal which assets each Kasuruban, which straddles the Buliisa and
company hoped to access. Packwach districts.

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