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AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

Invictus Energy makes progress

towards deal on Zimbabwean project

ZIMBABWE AUSTRALIA’S Invictus Energy is moving closer pandemic, it explained.
to striking a deal for the exploration and devel- Special Grant 4571 lies within the Cab-
opment of a block known as Special Grant 4571 ora Bassa Basin. The block includes two fields
in Zimbabwe. known as Muzarabani and Msasa, and it may
In a statement dated August 10, the company hold as much as 9.25 trillion cubic feet (261.94bn
reported that Zimbabwe’s Environmental Man- cubic metres) of natural gas and 294mn bar-
agement Agency (EMA) had approved both the rels of gas condensate in gross mean unrisked
environmental impact assessment (EIA) and reserves. Muzarabani appears to be the larger of
the environmental management plan (EMP) for the two fields, with 8.2 tcf (232.2 bcm) of gas and
Special Grant 4571. Both documents were sub- 250mn barrels of condensate, while Msasa may
mitted by Geo Associates, the Invictus subsidi- contain 1.05 tcf (29.73 bcm) of gas and 44mn
ary that owns an 80% stake in the block, it said. barrels of condensate.
The EMA’s decision to give a green light to Invictus said earlier this year that it hoped to
the EMP “concludes the permitting require- begin drilling its first test well at Muzarabani in
ments and enables the company to commence the near future. The company expects to spend
and undertake activities in the field, including $15-20mn on the initiative and will sink the well
seismic acquisition and exploration drilling,” to a depth of 3,500-4,000 metres. ™
Invictus said.
“[The] project and forward exploration pro-
gramme enjoy the full support of all stakehold-
ers,” it added.
Invictus issued its statement several days
after the Zimbabwe Investment and Develop-
ment Authority (ZIDA), a government agency
established to encourage and facilitate domestic
and foreign investment in the country, approved
its request to renew the licence for Special Grant
4571. The extension of the licence for another
three years “provides formal recognition of the
company as a foreign investor in the country and
enables access to a range of fiscal benefits and
incentives,” it explained in a separate statement.
The Australian company also reported that
it had not yet concluded negotiations with
Zimbabwean authorities on a production-shar-
ing agreement (PSA) for the block. Talks on
the project have proceeded more slowly than
anticipated because of the lockdown measures
imposed to curb the coronavirus (COVID-19) Special Grant 4571 contains two gas fields (Image: Invictus Energy)

Ugandan refinery construction

likely to be postponed again

UGANDA UGANDA’S plan for building a refinery to pro- day (bpd) of domestically produced crude.
cess crude oil from fields near Lake Albert is Since it is not yet a commercial producer of oil,
likely to face further delays. though, this project will hinge on the successful
The East African country wants to construct start of upstream development work at oilfieldss
a plant capable of handling 60,000 barrels per originally assigned to Tullow Oil (UK/Ireland).

Week 32 12•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15