Page 16 - AfrOil Week 37

AfrOil PROJECTS & COMPANIES AfrOil

This is partly because of underinvestment and operating costs of $367mn.
maintenance-related issues and partly because Under these circumstances, Kyari told Chan-
of damage to the pipeline networks that supply nels TV last week, NNPC has not been able to
the plants with feedstock. keep the refineries running. It has tried to do so
Company data show that the plants pro- but has not been able to keep capacity utilisa-
cessed almost no crude oil during the 13-month tion levels high enough to recoup its costs, he
period ending on June 30, even as they sustained explained. ™

Equipment problems force Renergen

to revise gas drilling programme

SOUTH AFRICA SOUTH Africa’s Renergen has revised its drill- This rig’s first task will be to extend an exist-
ing programme for the Victoria gas project after ing well drilled several years ago. Renergen
encountering equipment problems during the recently gained access to the shaft, which is
drilling of an inclined well. already cased down to the Karoo layer, close to
Company representatives said last week that the point where the anticipated gas-bearing fault
it had begun drilling the well with the aim of structure begins.
reaching gas-bearing fracture systems within its The company has already identified its next
licence area, which covers 1,870 square km in few drilling sites. It hopes to accelerate the pace
Free State. It was using a percussion rig to sink of its exploration programme by using a regu-
this well, the first in its current programme. lar rotary rig to drill vertically to the base of the
In the course of drilling, a drill string rupture Karoo layer and then switch to a directional rig
occurred, and the bottom-hole assembly was to drill at an incline toward the target strata.
lost before the rig could break through to the Stefano Marani, Renergen’s CEO, said he was
Karoo layer of rock. Renergen decided against optimistic about the Virginia gas project despite
attempting to retrieve the bottom-hole assem- the setback. “It is unfortunate that the drilling
bly, on the grounds that the drilling operation rod broke, but unfortunately accidents happen
was being carried out on a turn-key basis, mean- beyond anyone’s control,” he said. “The silver
ing that no further charges would be incurred lining is that it resulted in us gaining access to
prior to the successful penetration of the Karoo a fit-for-purpose directional drilling rig, which
layer. Instead, the company opted to abandon its means we will be able to drill with far greater
well and move the rig to another site. confidence and speed.”
Additionally, it revised its drilling pro- He added: “This is a very exciting time for us
gramme to take a different approach towards on the exploration front, with fortune allowing
reaching the Karoo layer. It said it would drill us to turn a negative situation into one that could
sub-vertically to the base of its casing point and leapfrog our progress.”
then switch to drilling outside of the casing in In the Victoria gas project, Renergen aims
order to reach the targeted gas-bearing fault to extract natural gas from fields near Welkom,
structures at increased inclination. This drilling Virginia and Theunissen in Free State. It hopes
will be carried out with a rotary rig, a fit-for-pur- to use this gas as feedstock for an LNG plant,
pose directional drilling unit that has recently which is currently under construction and due
become available. to begin commercial operations in 2021.

Trafigura seeks position in Somaliland

fuel supply, signs storage agreement

SOMALIA COMMODITIES giant Trafigura is looking to to the country’s Berbera oil terminal. The deliv-
establish a position in fuel supply in Somaliland. ery was made as part of a storage deal signed
In a statement last week, the company said it with the Somaliland Ministry of Trade, Industry
had delivered a first batch of low-sulphur gasoil and Tourism.

P16 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 37 16•September•2020