Page 14 - AfrOil Week 14 2020

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“Savings have been identified primarily through the deferral of activities across the portfolio and through savings that can be realised by ongoing farm-down activities,” it said. “In Ghana, for example, savings will be made through the early termination of the Maersk Venturer rig and the deferral of some well activity, combined with the removal of any non-critical work that does not focus on safety and asset reliability.”
The company went on to say that it was work- ing to ensure the safety of its staff in Africa dur- ing the coronavirus outbreak. The pandemic has not had any impact on upstream production, it noted, and Tullow is following the contingency
plans it developed during the outbreak of Ebola virus in West Africa in 2014.
Additionally, it said, Tullow’s principal offices have instructed their employees to work from home, in compliance with the public health guidelines introduced by the relevant host countries.
In Ghana, the company added, Tullow has instructed all of its personnel to self-isolate for a period of two weeks and then transfer to float- ing production, storage and off-loading (FPSO) vessels. These measures are expected to help reduce the risk of infection in the offshore zone, it said.™
Members of Tullow’s office staff in Ghana are now working remotely (Photo: Modern Ghana)
Angola delays picking refinery contractor
ANGOLA
ANGOLA’S government has delayed issuing a tender award for the construction of an oil refin- ery at the port of Soyo because of the coronavi- rus (COVID-19) pandemic.
In a statement, its ministry and mineral resources said that the date announcing the winner of the tender had been postponed from March 31. Angola declared a state of emergency on March 27 in response to the virus.
The ministry said it had shortlisted nine proposals from international contractors to erect the 100,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in February. They were submitted by SDRC, Jiangsu Sinochem Construction, Quantem Consortium, CMEC, AIDA and VSF, Tobaka Investment Group, Atis Nebest Angola, Satarem, Gemcorp Capital and CPP.
The contractors offered to build the facility in periods ranging from 16 to 40 months. Refin- ing operations are slated to start in 2023.
Africa’s second-biggest oil producer after Nigeria has sought for years to boost its refin- ing capacity in order to ease fuel and power shortages. The country currently has only one refinery – a 65,000 bpd plant in its capital Luanda that can cover around 20% of national fuel demand.
It aims to build three new refineries in
Cabinda, Lobito and Soyo, but these projects have faced significant delays because of prob- lems finding investors.
National oil company (NOC) Sonangol awarded a contract to Hong Kong-based con- sortium United Shine last year to build the 60,000 bpd Cabinda refinery. But it terminated the deal in December, according to local press, citing the group’s failure to prove it had the financial capability to see the project through.
Sonangol went on to sign a preliminary agreement on financing and implementation of the project with London-based investment firm Gemcorp Capital last month, and has said it is looking for other investors as well.
Cabinda is due to start up by the end of 2021, initially processing only 30,000 bpd of crude, before reaching its full capacity two years later.
Lobito is the largest of the three planned refineries, with a throughput capacity of 200,000 bpd. The project, with a $10bn budget, was initiated in 2012 but shelved four years later because of the oil price crash. Sonangol renewed its search for investment partners in late 2017.
All three refineries are expected to be con- structed on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. ™
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