Page 14 - AfrOil Week 24 2022

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

That structure has been independently esti- Cabora Bassa basin.
mated to hold 8.2 trillion cubic feet (232.2bn “The enlarged SG 4571 licence provides us
cubic metres) of natural gas and 247mn barrels with a basin master position encompassing the
of gas condensate. entire Cabora Bassa Basin in Zimbabwe. Sub-
The company went on to say it had been ject to making an opening discovery with one of
advised that the pre-gazettal administration our first two wells, it potentially could provide
process to increase the SG 4571 permit area us with future discoveries on a large scale within
from 100,000 hectares to 709,300 hectares was the basin which will be transformational for the
awaiting publishing in the Government Gazette. Company and the Republic of Zimbabwe.” ™
Invictus’ 80%-owned subsidiary Geo Associ-
ates (Pvt) Ltd and the Sovereign Wealth Fund of
Zimbabwe have executed a heads of agreement
(HoA) to expand the licence area, it added. The
company has committed to drill a second well in
the campaign to test the newly identified basin
margin play, which was matured through the
CB21 Seismic Survey completed in November
2021. Details of the second well will be provided
once the gazettal process has been completed.
Geo Associates and the Republic of Zim-
babwe will also conclude the petroleum pro-
duction-sharing agreement (PSA), which will
encompass the legal and fiscal provisions to
govern the project and the development of any
discovered resource.
Invictus’ managing director Scott Macmillan
said: “The commencement of the rig mobilisa-
tion marks another milestone in the project as
we prepare to commence drilling the Mukuyu-1
well, the first well in our potentially play opening
two-well exploration campaign in the frontier SG 4571 is in the Cabora Bassa basin (Image: Invictus Energy)

Tanzania signs HGA on $30bn LNG project

TANZANIA TANZANIA’S government has signed an initial is expected to create over 6,000 employment
host government agreement (HGA) that will opportunities in the country.
allow for kick-starting negotiations on a $30bn In a speech marking the signing of the agree-
LNG project. ment, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Has-
The other parties to the HGA were Shell san said that the initial HGA had allowed the
(UK) and Equinor (Norway), the operators of partners to set a timetable for fast-tracking the
the offshore blocks that will provide natural gas project.
for the future liquefaction plant, Reuters stated. “I long to see phase two of the negotiations
Meanwhile, The Citizen reported that the agree- being timely wrapped up [in December this
ment had also been signed by ExxonMobil (US) year] so that we pave the way for the project’s
and Ophir Energy (UK), the non-operating implementation as planned later in 2025,” she
partners in these blocks. commented.
At the signing, the Tanzanian government She also noted that the country was already
was represented by Energy Minister January carrying out several important strategic pro-
Makamba and Deputy Attorney General Evar- jects, including the Julius Nyerere hydroelectric
isto Longopa. The consortium, meanwhile, was power plant (HPP) and the Standard Gauge
represented by Equinor’s country manager for Railway (SGR). Nevertheless, she said, the LNG
Tanzania, Unni Skorstad, and Shell’s country plant is key, since it will bring both capital and
chair for Tanzania, Jared Kuehl. revenue into the country.
The HGA establishes the fiscal, legal and “When completed, the project will change
commercial terms for the project, just as the the country’s economic outlook, unlock eco-
production-sharing agreement (PSA) defines nomic growth and capture benefits from LNG
the same terms for the development of the exporting in the global market,” she commented.
upstream assets assigned to Shell and Equinor. Additionally, she emphasised that her gov-
It envisions the construction of the long-awaited ernment would seek to protect national interests
$30bn LNG plant at Likong’o village in Tanza- in every stage of negotiations while remaining
nia’s southern Lindi region, in an initiative that flexible in order to create a win-win scenario.

P14 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 24 15•June•2022