Page 18 - AfrOil Week 09 2022

AfrOil NEWS IN BRIEF AfrOil

Chad reappoints minister obstruction of the proper functioning of justice”, government to acquire an offshore oil and gas
according to JeuneAfrique.
exploration licence in the North African coun-
who renegotiated Glencore bna/IntelliNews, February 27 2022 try, Israeli news portals reported. The required
permits are offshore Morocco’s Atlantic Ocean
$1bn oil-for-cash deal PROJECTS & COMPANIES and Mediterranean Sea coasts.
Morocco is focusing on producing electricity
Chad’s transitional president, General Mahamat from gas rather than expensive coal as part of the
Idriss Deby, has reappointed the former oil min- SDX Energy completes green transition plan of the country.
ister who in 2015 negotiated the restructuring of Through the deal, the Israeli firm aims to
a $1bn oil-for-cash deal with Chad’s largest pri- drilling at MSD-25 well strengthen its foothold in the MENA region,
vate creditor, commodities giant Glencore Plc. encouraging regional co-operation. It also
Last year, Chad became the first country to AIM-listed SDX Energy, the MENA-focused intends to invest in developing technological
request a debt restructuring under a common energy company, has announced the completion assets and to boost gas exports to Egypt through
framework agreed in 2020 by China and other of drilling at the MSD-25 infill development well Jordan.
Group 20 members with the help of the Paris on the Meseda field in its West Gharib conces- In 2021, the firm secured a $1bn deal with
Club of major creditor countries. sion, Egypt (SDX: 50% working interest). MSD- Abu Dhabi’s state-held Mubadala over a 22%
The restructuring of Chad’s total debt of over 25 encountered the primary top Asl Formation stake in the offshore Tamar gas field on the Israeli
$3bn, which the International Monetary Fund reservoir at 4,109ft MD (3,361 foot TVDSS) coast.
(IMF) has described as unsustainable, is a pre- and reached a TD of 4,385 foot MD. The well This week, the Moroccan and Israeli gov-
requisite for the landlocked country at the cross- encountered 84.8 foot of good-quality, net oil ernments signed a trade and investment co-op-
roads of North and Central Africa to benefit pay sandstone, with an average porosity of 26.1% eration deal that allows the establishment of
from further financial support. in the Asl Formation reservoir. MSD-25 will now qualified industrial zones in the North African
Chad has said Glencore represents more than be tied-in to the existing facilities and flow tested, country. Israel is aiming to expand its trade with
98% of its commercial debt, most of it stem- and it is expected to be in production within two Morocco from $130mn currently to $500mn in
ming from oil-for-cash deals contracted in 2013 to three weeks. the short term. Trade between the two countries
and 2014, when the country could not tap the MSD-25 is the second well in a fully-funded, spiked after the re-establishment of their diplo-
international debt market or bilateral partners, 13-well development campaign on the Meseda matic relations in December 2020.
according to Reuters. and Rabul oil fields in the West Gharib conces- Earlier this month, Morocco signed an agree-
Under IMF and World Bank pressure, the sion, Egyptian Eastern Desert. The development ment to buy Israeli missile defense system in a
commodities giant agreed in November to drilling campaign is aimed at growing produc- deal worth over $500mn.
restructure its loan to Chad for a third time, after tion to circa 3,500-4,000 bpd by early 2023. bna/IntelliNews, February 24 2022
having done so in 2015 and 2018. The rig will now move to the next well in the
Deby took on the role of transitional presi- campaign, MSD-20, which is expected to spud in Buhari says Nigeria’s
dent after the death of his father, Idriss Déby Itno. mid-to late-March 2022.
As part of a cabinet reshuffle, Deby announced SDX Energy, February 28 2022 new NOC should become
the appointment of former oil minister Djeras-
sem Le Bemadjiel in a decree published on Feb- Israel’s NewMed Energy in Africa’s biggest
ruary 25.
Le Bemadjiel had been dismissed from the talks for offshore drilling President Muhammadu Buhari says his admin-
same post in September, after being indicted for istration aims to make the new national oil com-
“embezzlement of public funds, illicit use of state licence in Morocco pany (NOC), Nigerian National Petroleum Co.
property, corruption, attack on public wealth, Ltd (NNPCL), the largest and most well-capital-
abuse of office and trust, illicit enrichment, Israeli oil firm NewMed Energy (formerly Delek ised oil operator on the African continent.
complicity in embezzlement of public funds and Drilling) is currently in talks with the Moroccan In a speech read by Minister of State for
Petroleum Resources Timipre Sylva on Febru-
ary 28 at the Nigeria International Energy Sum-
mit (NIES), Buhari stated that his government
had replaced the old NOC, Nigerian National
Petroleum Corp. (NNPC), with NNPCL in short
order following the adoption of the Petroleum
Industry Act (PIA) in August 2021.
“NNPCL is a limited liability company now
and our target is to make it the biggest, the most
capitalised and the most profitable company in
the whole of Africa,” he said in the letter read by
Sylva, according to a report from This Day.
“With the PIA in place, there should be no
excuses,” the president added. “The enabling
investment environment which has been the
bane of the industry has been taken care of by
provisions in the PIA.”
bna/IntelliNews, March 2 2022

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 09 02•March•2022