Page 7 - AfrOil Week 09 2023

AfrOil INVESTMENT AfrOil

He explained that representatives of Aker Crimea in 2014 and its invasion of Ukraine in
Energy had recently met with Ghanaian Presi- 2022. These sanctions have made it difficult for
dent Nana Akufo-Addo and “stated that they are Russian companies to access international cap-
going to do it in April.” ital markets, and as a result, many have had to
According to information from Aker Ener- seek alternative financing options. ™
gy’s website, Pecan was discovered by Hess
in 2012 and lies within the Deepwater Tano/
Cape Three Points block offshore Ghana. It is
estimated to hold around 334mn barrels of oil
equivalent (boe). Equity in the field is divided
between Aker Energy, with 50%; Lukoil, with
38%; state-owned Ghana National Petro-
leum Corp. (GNPC), with 10%; and Fueltrade
(Ghana), with 2%.
The results from appraisals and drill-stem
tests showed promising results with light,
under-saturated oil having favourable charac-
teristics suited for waterflood.
With seven successful exploration wells and
eight appraisal wells, the block has demon-
strated a significant resource base, offering a
high upside.
Lukoil’s move to exit the Ghanaian project
comes as Russia continues to face sanctions
from Western countries over its annexation of Aker Energy is the operator of the Pecan oilfield (Image: Aker Energy)

Scirocco could see contingent payouts

from Tanzania deal sooner than expected

TANZANIA SHARES in AIM-listed Scirocco Energy rose revenue, which could be seen as early as Q4
11% on March 2 after the company noted an 2023, is a very positive step towards receiving
announcement that it now expects first natu- the contingent payments relating to FID and
ral gas at the Chikumbi-1 well in October, after the deferred consideration linked to a share of
further developing its plans with the Tanzania gas revenue,” Scirocco’s CEO Tom Reynolds said
authorities, Dow Jones reports. in a statement.
In that announcement, Africa-focused oil The Ruvuma joint venture group is now tar-
and gas company Aminex said the acceleration geting the first gas from the licence in October
in the gas production schedule will result in ear- this year. APT plans to conduct test production
lier gas revenue, now to be seen in Q4 2023. in March and is advancing talks to conclude a
ARA Petroleum Tanzania Ltd (APT), a sub- sales agreement with the Tanzanian authorities,
sidiary of ARA Petroleum (Oman), is the opera- under which it will deliver gas from the Ntorya
tor of the Ruvuma site, in which the Chikumbi-1 field to the Madimba gas plant in October. ™
well is located.
Mining Weekly reports that Scirocco is look-
ing forward to potentially faster payment of the
contingent payments included in the divestment
of its Tanzanian assets. The company is currently
awaiting the completion of the initial transac-
tion, with the upfront $3mn payment antici-
pated in the second quarter of 2023.
A further $13mn of contingent payments are
built into the transaction tied to progress in the
field, and according to the latest update from
the project, those payments could be triggered
sooner than Scirocco originally anticipated.
“As we progress towards completion of the
divestment of Scirocco’s interest in Ruvuma
to [APT], the likely acceleration of first gas The Chikumbi-1 well will be drilled at the Ntorya gas field (Image: Aminex)

Week 09 02•March•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P7