9 minute read
Calendar of events
Executives Calendar 2021
MAY
19-21 SAIPEC Virtual www.saipec-event.com
JUNE
6-10 NIPS Abuja, Nigeria www.nigeriapetroleumsummit.com 7-9 EGYPS 2021 Egypt, North Africa www.egyps.com 29-30 South Sudan Oil & Power Juba, South Sudan www.africaoilandpower.com/event/ssop-2021
JULY
1-3 09th Oil & Gas Africa Nairobi, Kenya www.expogr.com/kenyaoil 5-8 Nigeria Oil & Gas Abuja, Nigeria www.nogevent.com
SEPTEMBER
13-16 Gastech Singapore EXPO, Singapore www.gastechevent.com 28-30 7th Mozambique Gas Summit & Exhibition Maputo, Mozambique www.mozambique-gas-summit.com 29-30 Ghana Oil, Gas, Energy 2021 Accra, Ghana www.ghana-summit.com
OCTOBER
4-5 U.S. Africa Energy Forum Houston, Texas www.africaoilandpower.com/event/us-africa-energyforum-2021
Readers should verify dates and location with sponsoring organisations, as this information is sometimes subject to change.
EGYPS 2021 to be held in-person from 7-9 June
THIS JUNE, EGYPT is bringing together government representatives, global CEOs, NOCs, IOCs, international service providers, EPCs, consultants and financiers to address the evolving opportunities in global energy markets.
Being the North Africa and the Mediterranean’s leading oil and gas exhibition and conference, The Egypt Petroleum Show (EGYPS) will be held under the patronage of HE Abdel Fattah El Sisi, President of Egypt, where oil and gas professionals convene to engage in dialogue, create partnerships, do business and identify solutions and strategies that will reshape the global energy markets. The conference is still set to take place inperson from 7-9 June 2021 in Cairo at the Egypt International Exhibition Center with an expanded exhibition space attracting 20,000 attendees from local and international businesses to identify opportunities from Egypt, North Africa and the Mediterranean’s future project requirements and strategic priorities for oil and gas sector.
Why Egypt?
The North African country is emerging in the forefront of regional oil and gas activities with exciting developments in recent years. A total of 14 upstream agreements were signed from March 2020 to date (US$1.5bn). In January 2021, Energy Ministers of Egypt, Israel, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, Jordan and Palestine approved the transformation of the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) into a recognised international organisation for commercial development of the natural gas fields in the Mediterranean area. Around 22 upstream agreements were signed with IOCs in 2020, with minimum investments of around US$1.6bn and a signature bonus of about US$139mn, for drilling 74 wells.
The strategic and technical conferences are bringing together industry leaders from regional and international producing, consuming and transit countries to discuss and deliberate the reshaping of markets and the world’s future energy mix. The oil and gas professionals will discuss the latest technical challenges, product innovations and project advances to stay technically relevant, digitally competitive and business resilient.
The EGYPS Finance & Investment Summit provides exclusive insights from leading government representatives and industry financiers and investors who continue to strive to ensure business continuity, profitability and stakeholder confidence.
Combining high-level keynote speeches, panel discussions and live Q&A sessions, the 2021 edition delivers a platform for learning the latest industry trends and developments and most importantly, meeting face-to-face with key stakeholders and decision makers within the health, safety and environment fields that together help drive businesses forwards.
All Secure standards
Following guidance in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the organiser, dmg events, has developed a detailed set of enhanced measures to provide the highest levels of hygiene and safety at its events, reassuring and building confidence in all attendees that they are participating in a safe and controlled environment. The All Secure standards comprise of four key cornerstones, providing assurance and confidence that all events have health and safety as the number one priority.
AZINAM SOUTH AFRICA Ltd (ASAL), a Seacrest company, has announced the completion of its acquisition of a 50% operated interest in Block 2B offshore South Africa.
Under the terms of the company’s farmout agreement with Africa Energy Corp, ASAL has acquired a 50% participating interest in Block 2B and become the Operator of Block 2B on behalf of the joint venture partners. Africa Energy Corp will retain a 27.5% participating interest in the block.
Simultaneously, Panoro Energy has become a 12.5% participating interest holder on the licence. Crown Energy AB indirectly holds the remaining 10% participating interest.
ASAL and the other licence partners plan to drill up-dip of the A-J1 oil discovery, with the well targeting 349 mmbbl of oil. The Block 2B area has the potential to provide the first major oil production offshore South Africa, and the first oil production in the Orange Basin.
Daniel McKeown, managing director of Azinam South Africa Limited, commented, With A-J1 having flowed oil to surface and with the benefit of a significant database of well and modern seismic information, Azinam believes that Block 2B has the potential to provide South Africa with its first major offshore oil production. This transaction will allow for a well to be drilled to test the wider potential of the A-J1 discovery. Azinam and its partners are targeting 349 mmbbl of oil.”
BW Energy re-starts drilling campaign on Dussafu license, Gabon
BW ENERGY LIMITED has announced the re-start of a threewell drilling campaign on the Dussafu license offshore Gabon consisting of two exploration wells in the Hibiscus area and one production well on the Tortue field.
The current campaign is set to start with the Hibiscus Extension appraisal well (DHIBM-2) which is located around 56km from the coast in 119 m water depth. The well is planned as a vertical well to test the northern extension of the Gamba reservoir of the already discovered Hibiscus field. If the well is found to be hydrocarbonbearing, one or two appraisal sidetracks may be drilled to further delineate the field.
The appraisal well will provide new input to the ongoing Hibiscus/Ruche development project, which is currently based on the already discovered 46.1 mn bbl gross 2P reserve at Hibiscus and the 24.1 mn bbl discovered at Ruche and Ruche North East.
The development project is planned to consist of a converted jack-up rig tied back to the FPSO with 12 development wells drilled in two phases, with first oil expected in the Q1 2023.
“Working closely with the government of Gabon and our license partners, we are looking forward to unlocking the full potential from Hibiscus and continue our development of the successful Tortue field through this drilling programme. The company expects to generate material cash flow over the next decade from the continued development of Dussafu and to deliver significant value to Gabon and the license partnership,” said Carl K Arnet, CEO of BW Energy.
Image Credit: Adobe Stock Following the DHIBM-2 well, the rig will move to drill the horizontal production well, DTM-7H, at the Tortue field.
Nostra Terra announces potential portfolio expansion into Tunisia
NOSTRA TERRA, THE oil and gas exploration and production company, has announced progress with the planned strategic expansion of its portfolio into Tunisia.
Exclusive negotiations and preparations have taken place for a large block with existing discoveries, offering both exploration and appraisal activity and new entities have been organised in anticipation of such expansion.
Completion of the initial transaction is not certain, however Nostra Terra has exclusivity, has negotiated terms and is waiting final approval. Further updates will be made in due course.
Matt Lofgran, CEO at Nostra Terra, said, “Our core focus at Nostra Terra has been to first build a foundation of steady producing assets where cashflow covers overhead and can be reinvested in growth. We know investors like to see assets that have large potential upsides so that they can deliver substantial value. We said that we planned to add that aspect to the portfolio once we reached cashflow positive.”
“We are leveraging the board's extensive experience and network, and we look forward to adding a dynamic asset to the portfolio, with no near term external funding needs, and the ability to have a very positive impact."
Adobe Stock Image Credit:
Africa Oil & Power and Invest In Africa forge strategic partnership
AFRICA OIL & POWER (AOP) has announced its strategic partnership with Invest in Africa (IIA) – one of the leading business and investment promotion associations for African SMEs – to drive the participation of local suppliers in the energy sector at the upcoming MSGBC Oil, Gas & Power 2021 Conference & Exhibition.
The partnership aims to expand the presence of African SMEs by connecting multinationals and IOCs to credible local suppliers; facilitating collaboration with partners, vendors, clients and governments; and ensuring that large-scale energy developments translate into tangible opportunities for indigenous businesses.
Image Credit: Africa Oil & Power Conference
Ibrahima Talla, African Partner Pool Manager at IIA.
The collaboration between the two entities is foundational to the event’s central mission to promote local content, capacity building and cooperation between IOCs and local partners.
“Invest in Africa has a particular interest in this Summit because it allows key stakeholders of the extractive industries and energies around the MSGBC Basin to meet and access the same level of information on ongoing operations, as well as development prospects,” stated Ibrahima Talla, African Partner Pool Manager at IIA.
“This constitutes the foundation of the local content promoted and advocated by IIA. We are convinced that this forum will promote the establishment of partnerships that will foster the creation and sharing of value.”
Eni and SONATRACH sign a series of agreements
THE CEO OF Eni, Claudio Descalzi, and the president general manager of the Algerian state company SONATRACH, Toufik Hakkar, have signed various agreements in the exploration and production, research and development, decarbonisation and training fields.
These agreements mark a further step forward in strengthening the partnership between the two companies.
Image Credit: Adobe Stock
The first of the agreements signed aims to implement an ambitious programme for the relaunch of exploration and development activities in the Berkine basin region and provides for the creation of a gas and crude oil development hub through a synergy with existing MLE-CAFC installations. This agreement is part of the process to finalise a new hydrocarbon contract in the basin, under the aegis of the new Algerian oil law which came into force in December 2019.
Claudio Descalzi and Toufik Hakkar signed a MoU to develop the partnership between Eni and SONATRACH in the new technologies sector, with a focus on renewable energy, biofuels and hydrogen.
Ever Given vessel freed from Suez Canal
AFTER THE EVER Given container vessel ran aground amid high winds and a standstorm in the Suez Canal on Tuesday 23 March, effectively shutting off the important maritime route, international trade has been severely impacted but now service has resumed as the vessel has finally been pulled free.
It is estimated that around 12% of total globe trade passes through the Suez Canal each year, and the effective sealing off of the channel has caused widespread disruption which has left few industries unaffected: it has been suggested that around US$9.6bn worth of goods has been held up each day. For the oil and gas sector, it was another setback after a challenging period which has seen hydrocarbon prices plummet over the last year.
Although oil is still set for a fourth quarterly gain, the disruption in the Suez Canal provoked a dip in prices with West Texas Intermediate falling as much as 2.5% and Brent also falling.
Unwedging the Ever Given was no easy feat. With the vessel measuring nearly 400m and weighing almost 220,000 tonnes it was not a case of a simple manoeuvring operations once it became stuck. After nearly a week of continued efforts, in the early hours of Monday 29 March, thanks to the efforts of Egyptian and international salvage teams, the stern was finally freed.
However, as was warned at the time, there was still much to do as the bow was still stuck rocksolid. With the ship free to continue on its journey, traffic can finally flow once again after six days of holding.
