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Africa: Shell’s South African move Asia: India invites IOCs to invest in SPR
Interest in South Africa’s offshore zone remains The Indian government is looking to attract
strong. investment from international oil companies
Royal Dutch Shell has entered into a farm-out (IOCs) in its next wave of strategic petroleum
agreement with UK-based Impact Oil & Gas that reserve (SPR) development.
will allow it to take a 50% stake in the Transkei New Delhi was looking for “global” inves-
& Algoa block. The Algoa section of the licence tors to help fund the addition of 6.5mn tonnes
area is adjacent to the eastern edge of Block (47.65mn barrels) of SPR capacity over two
11B/12B, where Total (France) has discovered facilities in Chandikol and Padur, Indian Minis-
sizeable reserves of gas condensate at the Brul- ter for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra
padda and Luiperd fields. Pradhan told an industry event on November 9.
Total, for its part, is reportedly looking to He said: “I invite global energy players to come
trim its portfolio in Angola. Industry sources and invest in this project.”
have told Reuters that the French major is look- The country already has three underground
ing into unloading its 20% stake in the Block 14, facilities located in Padur, Mangalore and Nigeria is
which is operated by Chevron. According to the Visakhapatnam, with 2.5mn tonnes (18.33mn
sources, Total could earn $300mn through the barrels), 1.5mn tonnes (11mn barrels) and counting on
sale of this asset and make progress towards its 1.33mn tonnes (9.75mn barrels) of capacity the Dangote
goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. respectively.
Meanwhile, Mozambique is one step closer However, declining domestic production refinery to end its
to realising its LNG ambitions. Eni has reported and a historic upward trend in oil imports has
that Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) has fin- impressed on the government the need for emer- dependence on
ished installing the topside modules of the gency stockpiles to mitigate oil market shocks.
floating LNG (FLNG) vessel that will be used The country’s production of crude and fuel imports and
to liquefy natural gas from the offshore Area 4 condensate shrank 6.05% year on year in Sep- even produce a
block. The ship will be the first FLNG to operate tember to 2.49mn tonnes (608,000 barrels per
at an ultra-deepwater site. day). While imports also contracted in Septem- surplus for export
In other news, Sudan’s national oil com- ber, down 9.8% on the year to 15.18mn tonnes
pany (NOC) Sudapet is preparing to bring the (3.71mn bpd), this was driven by a fall in eco-
al-Rawat oilfield on stream. The site is expected nomic activity on the back of government lock-
to yield 3,000 barrels per day, raising the coun- down measures.
try’s total crude output to 64,000 bpd. Sudapet’s Indeed, the country is beginning to show
announcement follows the signing of an agree- renewed appetite for energy, with Pradhan not-
ment between Sudan and South Sudan that ing that domestic gasoline, diesel and liquid
will see the two neighbouring countries work petroleum gas (LPG) sales rose last year.
together to restart key sites such as the Total and “We anticipate that this recovery path in
Unity oilfields. energy demand growth in India will sustain in
the coming months,” Pradhan said. He added
If you’d like to read more about the key events shaping that the country’s share of global energy con-
Africa’s oil and gas sector then please click here for sumption was projected to rise from 7% to 12%
NewsBase’s AfrOil Monitor . by 2050.

Week 45 12•November•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P7