Page 13 - AfrOil Week 45

AfrOil INVESTMENT AfrOil

Development of these blocks, which contain the potential contingent payments, the closing of
Kingfisher and Tilenga oilfields, is expected to this transaction marks Tullow’s exit from its
require about $6.7bn worth of investments. licences in Uganda after 16 years of operations
The French major has also acquired Tullow’s in the Lake Albert basin,” the company noted in
33.3% stake in the East Africa Crude Oil Pipe- its statement.
line (EACOP) project, which aims to establish It also quoted Rahul Dhir, the CEO of Tullow,
an export route for Ugandan crude. As a result, as saying: “The closing of our transaction with
it will join Uganda and Tanzania in building a Total clearly evokes mixed emotions within
$3.55bn pipeline along a 1,445-km route from Tullow. While we are sad to be exiting Uganda
Hoima, a city near the Lake Albert oilfields, to after many years, the $575mn of proceeds form
Tanga, a port on the shore of the Indian Ocean. an important part of our plan to strengthen
When finished, the link will be able to handle Tullow’s balance sheet and improve our financial
216,000 barrels per day (bpd). position. We will watch the progress of Uganda’s
The sale to Total marks the end of Tullow’s oil and gas industry with much interest and all
involvement in Uganda, where oil was first dis- of us at Tullow wish the people and government
covered in 2006. of Uganda and our former joint venture partners
“Although Tullow will retain a financial every good fortune as they take this important
link to the development project through the project forward.”™

PERFORMANCE
Sudan prepares to launch production at al-

Rawat field

SUDAN AIMAN Aboujoukh, the general manager of
Sudan’s national oil company (NOC) Sudapet,
said last week that his company was preparing
to bring a new oilfield on stream.
In an interview with Reuters, Aboujoukh
reported that Sudapet expected to begin extract-
ing crude from seven wells at the al-Rawat site
within the next two weeks. The field’s initial pro-
duction rates are set to average 3,000 barrels per
day, he noted.
These volumes will serve to bring Sudan’s
total oil output up to 64,000 bpd, he added. Offi-
cials in Khartoum believe this figure could rise
by another 20,000 bpd in 2021 if the Finance
Ministry allocates enough money to support
new exploration efforts, he said.
They are also hoping that the country’s oil
and gas industry will attract larger amounts of
foreign investment next year, he added. Now
that the US government has confirmed its inten-
tion of lifting Sudan from the list of state spon-
sors of terrorist activity, Sudan will be in a better Al-Rawat’s initial output will be 3,000 bpd (Image: Ministry of Petroleum and Gas)
position to obtain debt relief and international
aid funding, he commented. It also indicates that the first joint opera-
tion will involve restarting production at Block
South Sudan deal 5A. Sudan’s government has pledged to pro-
The Sudapet chief was speaking just a few weeks vide financial and technical aid to facilitate the
after the signing of an agreement between the relaunch of the South Sudanese site.
governments of Sudan and South Sudan on Block 5A is capable of yielding up to 80,000
expanding co-operation in the oil and gas sec- bpd of oil but has typically produced no more
tor. That accord, which was finalised in late than 5,000 bpd on average since South Sudan
September, provides for the two neighbouring gained independence in 2011. Crude from the
states to focus on resuming development work field helps make up the Nile Blend grade, which
at the Toma and Unity sites, as well as other key flows to market via a pipeline through Sudanese
oilfields. territory to the Red Sea. ™

Week 45 11•November•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P13