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AfrOil NEWS IN BRIEF AfrOil

Discussions with Botswana Development Corp. techniques. Once coring is concluded, geochem- commenced operations for Total E&P Angola in
(BDC) have been ongoing for several months. istry is undertaken in a world-class laboratory January of this year.
The Company understands that BDC is seeking with preliminary results available daily and final Maersk Drilling, October 21 2020
internal investment approval and the Company reports ready for industry review in Q1-2021.
continues to work with BDC to successfully con- Kristian Johansen, CEO at TGS, commented:
clude a funding proposal that fits within BDC’s “This multibeam and seismic coverage along- HUMAN RESOURCES
investment parameters. side coring and geochemical analysis will fur-
In addition, the Company has recently ther de-risk the offshore region and speed up Apex Industries commits
received an indicative term sheet for transmis- exploration decision-making in an area which is
sion line and transformer funding from a new likely to see a growing level of licensing activity to funding top students
potential financier. The Company will assess in the near future. With the progress of the Petro-
this offer alongside other potential financiers to leum Industry Bill, the opportunities to further at National University of
evaluate the best possible option and funding explore offshore Nigeria have never been more
partner going forward. appealing.” Equatorial Guinea
Ministerial Site Visit: The Company were This project is supported by industry funding.
delighted to welcome Honourable Minister TGS, October 21 2020 Apex Industries, an oil and gas conglomerate
Lefoko Moagi, Minister of Mineral Resources based in Equatorial Guinea and headed by Don
Green Technology and Energy Security Maersk Drilling secures Leoncio Amada Nze, has entered into a five-
(MMGE) and his team to the Lesedi project. year Funding Partnership Agreement with the
Moagi has been a long-term supporter of Tlou’s additional three-well National University of Equatorial Guinea that
project and again reiterated his support during will see the company issue scholarships to top
his visit. contract for Maersk talent at the country’s main institution of higher
Tlou Energy would like to sincerely thank learning.
Moagi for taking the time to visit the Company’s Voyager in Angola As part of Apex Industries’ social pro-
operations and for the continued support that we gramme, the company commits to financially
receive from the Ministry. Maersk Drilling has been awarded a three-well support qualifying students during their aca-
Tlou Energy, October 27 2020 contract from Total E&P Angola for the 7th demic progress for the next five years.
generation drillship Maersk Voyager which Apex Industries is a leading oil and gas ser-
will be employed to drill development wells vices company in the central African region. Its
SERVICES in Angola’s Block 17. The three-well contract activities include the delivery of offshore engi-
has an estimated duration of 140 days, which neering and maintenance services, oil field logis-
TGS aims to add to means that Maersk Voyager is now contracted tics services and facility maintenance services.
until Q2-2021. The firm value of the three-well The company, which is headed by its founder
offshore Nigeria data contract is approximately $30m, including inte- and CEO Don Leoncio Amada Nze, has an
grated drilling services provided.
ambitious growth plan to widen its footprint
with restart of new Voyager’s previously agreed work scope for Total chain.
The two one-well options included in Maersk across Africa and along the entire energy value
geochemical coring project E&P remain. In order to achieve that, it will have to ensure
“We are delighted to add three more wells to that it can rely on a constant supply of highly
TGS, a leading provider of multi-client geo- Maersk Voyager’s work scope in Angola, where qualified youth. ‘‘Our initiative is aimed at offer-
science data for exploration and production our operations were re-started in late August ing students in Africa the opportunity to qual-
companies, today announced the recommence- following a suspension period due to the restric- ity education which the National University of
ment of the geochemical coring project offshore tions imposed to combat the global pandemic. Equatorial Guinea provides. We are enthusiastic
Nigeria. The initiative is part of an anomaly tar- We’re happy to go back to work in collaboration about this partnership because the youth are the
geting programme focusing on the previously with the local partners we have engaged to sup- future, not just for Apex Industries, but for the
completed analysis of multibeam and backs- port the campaign,” says COO Morten Kelstrup entire continent. They will be in the position to
catter data. This survey is being conducted in of Maersk Drilling. meet the continent’s socio-economic needs and
conjunction with Nigerian joint venture partner Maersk Voyager is a high-spec ultra-deepwa- create an impact in their communities,’’ said
TGS-PetroData. ter drillship which was delivered in 2014. It has Nze, who also serves as President of the African
The coring leg began on October 15, and been operating offshore Africa since 2015 and Energy Chamber, CEMAC Region.
completion is planned for late November. This APEX Industries and the African Energy
coincides with an exciting time for the industry Chamber continue to stress the importance of
in Nigeria with significant progress being seen supporting African institutions and universities
on the long-awaited Petroleum Industry Bill by highlighting the shortfalls and implementing
(PIB). The project covers an area of approxi- strategic plans to address with them adequately,
mately 82,000 square km offshore Nigeria and including financing shortfalls. This collabora-
will incorporate 17 seabed heat flow measure- tion also includes a commitment of continuous
ments and 253 seabed cores whose location is assessment, in an effort to mobilise the energy
based on multibeam and backscatter anom- sector as a whole to support talent development
alies. These data are complemented by TGS’ in Equatorial Guinea in particular and Africa in
NGRE19 2D seismic data reprocessed last year General.
to take advantage of modern seismic imaging African Energy Chamber, October 23 2020

P20 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 43 28•October•2020