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Petroleum Africa July/August 2019 3

Local ImpactSeas off West Africa World’s Worst for Pirate Attacks 38

DEPARTMENTSMoving OnMessage from the EditorAfrica’s Big FiveAfrica at LargeAfrican PoliticsDownstream News

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ON THE COVER

ContentsVol. 16 Issue 4July/August 2019

Around the WorldMarket MoversPower & AlternativesFacts and FiguresConferencesAdvertisers’ Index

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MaerskVenturerkeeps busy inGhana

Downstream FocusRefinery Strikes Liquid Gold with Efficiency Increases 36

African FocusOverview: Nigeria

Overview: Morocco

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Technology and SolutionsMEMS: Five Benefits to Seismic Data Acquisition

H2S Detection While Drilling – A New Approach

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New Products & ServicesNew Technology to Revolutionize Offshore Flow Measurement Signals

Coretrax Drill Pipe Cleaning Ball Wipes Away 11 Days

New Approach to Engineering Industrial Control Systems

Formation Evaluation Software Boosts Understanding of Reservoir Conditions

Borealis Launches New Plastics Recycling Technology

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Monthly FocusNew Angola Abandonment and Decommissioning Framework

Opportunities in Uganda Exploration Await

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World’s largest single-train refinerycoming to Nigeria

SDX operations in Morocco

Petroleum Africa July/August 20194

MOVING ON

C-Innovation, an affiliate of Edison ChouestOffshore, named John Michael Boquet asHSE manager. Boquet previously served in HSEroles for Edison Chouest Offshore, Sealandand Falck, as well as administrative managerfor Sealand.

Chevron named David Inchausti as corporateVP and comptroller effective June 16. Inchaustisucceeds Jeanette Ourada, who has elected toleave the company. Inchausti has been withChevron since 1988 in a number of operationaland corporate finance positions around the world.

Alex Beard, the Head of Oil at Glencore, retiredeffective June 30. Beard will be replaced as Headof Oil Marketing by Alex Sanna. Sanna has beenwith Glencore since 2006 and has been a seniormember of the Oil Products division. Thereporting lines for oil assets will be transitioned

to Peter Freyberg, who will now become theHead of Industrial Assets across the Group.

Genel Energy appointed Mike Adams astechnical director, and PDMR, with immediateeffect. The appointment follows a repositioningof the role of COO, which is now split into pre-production and on-production business lines.Prior to joining Genel in 2012, Adams workedin a series of technical and leadership positionsfor companies including BG, Hess, GulfKeystone Petroleum, and Sterling Energy.

KCA Deutag named Joseph Elkhoury as itsnew CEO, effective July 1. Elkhoury takes overfrom Norrie McKay who will retire later thisyear. McKay will remain with the group in anadvisory capacity until December 31. Elkhouryhas 26 years of experience in the industry, mostnotably serving 21 years with Schlumberger.

Serinus Energy appointed Judicael Tinss asCOO of the company. Tinss has 18 years ofexperience in reservoir management and businessdevelopment within the international explorationand production sphere, including the US, WestAfrica, Middle East and Europe.

Ole Martin Grimsrud has been appointed CFOof Aker Solutions, effective August 1. He replacesSvein Oskar Stoknes, who is taking over as CFO

of Aker ASA. Grimsrud joined Aker Solutionsin 2012 as VP, Finance for the Subsea business.

Kosmos Energy saw Steven Sterin join its boardof directors effective July 18. Sterin is a seniorexecutive with more than 25 years of extensiveoil and gas, manufacturing, and financialexperience. Most recently, Sterin wasexecutive VP and CFO of Andeavor andAndeavor Logistics from 2014 until the mergerwith Marathon Petroleum Co. in October 2018.He currently serves on the board of DuPont deNemours, Inc. and is the Chair of its AuditCommittee.

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and MineralResources, Tarek El Molla, announced newtransfers in the oil and gas sector. El Mollaassigned Mohamed Hassan Badran as the newdeputy CEO for Production at EGPC, as well asa member of EGPC’s Executive Council.Nabil Salah Nassar was named as the newManaging Director of Suez Oil Company. Theseappointments were effective July 31.

Schlumberger’s board of directors appointedOlivier Le Peuch as the company’s new CEOand member of the Schlumberger board. LePeuch’s appointment is effective August 1. LePeuch succeeds Paal Kibsgaard, who will stepdown after more than 22 years of service to thecompany, including eight years as CEO and fouryears as chairman. The current non-independentdirector, Mark G. Papa, will become non-executive chairman of the board, while PeterCurrie will continue to serve as the board’s leadindependent director.

BCCK Holding Company promoted JohnPeterson to senior VP of business development.Peterson will be responsible for leading thebusiness development teams. He previously servedas director of business development for BCCK.

To include a corporate personnel announcement in Moving On, write to [email protected]. Preference will be given to Africa-specific appointments and to thosecompanies who have interests within the continent; all others will be included on a space available basis.

The International MarineContractors Association(IMCA) added AndySeymour to its GoverningBoard. Seymour is theG l o b a l D i r e c t o rOperational Excellenceat Fugro NV. Seymourstarted his career at Fugro

as a field surveyor progressing to shore-basedmanagement positions including countrymanager and regional director. In 2018 hemoved into a corporate role as deputy divisiondirector and in 2019 was appointed into hiscurrent role.

Andy Seymour

President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria hasappointed Dr. Thomas John as its actingalternate chairman of the Governing Boardof NNPC. John’s appointment brings Ministerof State for Petroleum Resources, EmmanuelKachikwu’s tenure in the position to an end.NNPC also saw its Managing Director,Maikanti Baru, replaced by Mallam MeleKyari. Prior to his appointment as the newMD of NNPC, Kyari served as Nigeria’snational OPEC representative and the NNPC’scrude oil marketing division group generalmanager. In addition to the above, NNPC sawsome newly promoted personnel whichincluded Musa Lawal to the position of groupgeneral manager of National PetroleumInvestment Management Services; andMansur Sambo, becoming managing directorof NPDC.

Maikanti Baru Mallam Mele Kyari

Dr. Thomas John Emmanuel Kachikwu

Mohammed Barkindowas re-appointed asSecretary General ofOPEC. Barkindo wasappointed for a secondthree-year term at the sixthOPEC and non-OPECMinisterial meeting heldon July 2 in Vienna.

Barkindo was acting secretary general in 2006and represented Nigeria on OPEC’s EconomicCommission Board from 1993 to 2008.

Mohammed Barkindo

Wintershall Dea in Brazilsaw a change in its topmanagement with thenaming of Valerie Bosseas its new ManagingDirector. The changefollows the merger ofWintershall and Deaactivities. Bosse takes over

from Gerhard Haase (Wintershall), who isretiring, and Christoph Schlichter (DEA),who is now in charge of integrating therecently acquired Sierra Oil & Gas in Mexicofor Wintershall Dea.

Valerie Bosse

Petroleum Africa July/August 20196 Petroleum Africa January/February 20186

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MESSAGEF R O M T H E E D I T O R

Petroleum Africa Magazine is aTexas, United States-registered company.PO Box 1571 Montgomery, TX 77356

It’s that time once again when I move off the oil and gas topic to discuss somethingmost all of the African continent gets excited about. For those of you who regularlyread my column, that’s right, you guessed it, Sports! And not any sport, the AfricaCup of Nations to be exact. What a fantastic tournament this year’s edition turnedout to be, filled with surprises, sorrows, triumphs and great matches!

Perhaps the most surprising development was Madagascar’s run in its firstappearance in the tournament. The team made it all the way to the Final 16,leaving its fans feeling proud and looking forward to future performances of their“Barea.” And then there was Mauritania scoring its first ever goal in the tournament.The Lions of Chinguetti also held their football powerhouse neighbor, Tunisia,to a draw. Quite a feat for the Mauritanian squad!

On a less upbeat note for the hosting nation, the Egyptian Pharaohs were sentpacking after the South African squad handed them a defeat, putting an early endto the tournament’s most successful team’s run for the cup. Upheaval withinEgypt’s football world followed with Hany Abu Reida, head of the EgyptianFootball Association (EFA), resigning shortly after the loss, and calling onmembers of the EFA board to also resign, while firing the coaching team led byMexico’s Javier Aguirre.

The most painful moment of the tournament came in the semi-final match betweenSenegal and Tunisia. At the 100th minute of the 0-0 match, Tunisia’s goalkeeper,Moez Hassen, saw the ball bounce off the head of the defender Dylan Bronn andinto the net for the only goal of the game, sending the Senegalese squad to thefinal and leaving the Tunisians in tears.

Perhaps my favorite match was the Algeria/Nigeria semi-final. It seemed for70+ minutes the Algerians were on the way to taking the match, when AissaMandi was given a yellow card for a handball; Nigeria’s Odion Ighalo subsequentlyconverted the penalty kick and the match was tied up, breathing new life into theSuper Eagles. At four minutes into the extra time period, it looked like penaltykicks were imminent, until the last minute of stoppage time when Algerian starRiyad Mahrez broke the Nigerians’ heart with a beautiful free kick placed in thetop left corner of the goal with what was practically the last kick of the game,winning the match for the Algerians. To be sure, it was a great, extra-timecomeback for the fans!

The much-anticipated final between Senegal and Algeria was over 2 minutes intothe match, with Algeria scoring a fluke goal. The team took one shot versusSenegal’s 12 shots, and that was enough to land Algeria its second Africa Cup,coming 29 years after their first. Congratulations to El Khadra (The Greens) forthe long awaited second victory!

And now, back to business! We have a great issue featuring both Morocco andNigeria, two very different petroleum industries with new developmentsmaterializing rapidly. Also be sure to check out the technology section featuringan article on H2S detection while drilling by Geolog, along with a look at digitalseismic data acquisition by Sercel in the second feature. As always, your commentsand suggestions are welcome and can be sent to [email protected].

Dianne SutherlandChief Editor

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Agogo Appraisal a Success for ENIENI successfully drilled its first appraisal wellon the offshore Angola Block 15/06 Agogodiscovery with the Agogo-2 well. According tothe firm, the well results confirm the 650 millionbarrels of oil in place at the Agogo field andindicate further upside in its northern sector thatwill be assessed with new appraisal wells.

The appraisal well encountered 58 meters net oflight oil, in sandstones of Miocene and Oligoceneage with excellent petro-physical characteristics.The result confirms the extension of the Agogoreservoir to the north of the discovery well andbelow the salt diapirs. The well has been plannedand drilled as a highly deviated one, to reach thesequences below the salt diapirs and prove theexistence of reservoir and oil charge also in thissector of the Agogo mega structure. Data acquiredin Agogo-2 indicate a production capacity inexcess of 15,000 bpd of oil.

Agogo-2 was drilled using the Poseidon drillship,3 km north-west of the Agogo-1 discovery well,approximately 180 km from the coast and 23 kmfrom the N’Goma West Hub FPSO.

ENI plans to start first production from Agogobefore the end of 2019 with a subsea tie back tothe N’Goma FPSO. Meanwhile, it will continuethe appraisal campaign to assess the discovery’sfull potential and size of its development.

NOC and Schlumberger Sign MoUNOC, Libya’s state-run oil and gas firm, andSchlumberger signed an MoU aimed atestablishing a specialized training anddevelopment center in Benghazi. The trainingcenter is part of NOC’s focus on “upskilling thenext generation of oil sector workers.”

The center will concentrate on professionalexcellence in exploration, drilling and petroleumengineering, and be equipped with the latest high-tech equipment to develop qualified technicalstaff necessary to sustain the sector.

A statement on the NOC website said thedevelopment programs will deliver on-the-job

training and aim to upskill key engineeringcompetencies to improve production rates,operational efficiency, and workplace safety.Courses will prioritize the teaching of additionalrecovery methods, innovative directional drillingand fracturing techniques, as well as thedevelopment of shale oil reserves.

Schlumberger has also offered to host Libyanengineers and technicians through on-worktraining programs across the company’sworldwide operations.

NSCO Sees Gas Flows in North SinaiKuwaiti Holding Company subsidiary, NSCOInvestments, completed the development of thefirst well in a North Sinai offshore natural gasconcession. The company drilled the first well inthe Kamos area at a depth of 1,698 meters at acost of around $15 million.

Production from the well began at a rate of25 Mmcf/d, raising NSCO’s production capacityto 40 Mmcf/d.

The second well at Kamos, drilled at 2,664 meters,is expected to begin production during Q3 2019.Seismic surveys previously indicated around2.352 Tcf of natural gas and 112 million barrelsof condensates in reserves in the concession.

DPR Threatens SanctionsNigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources(DPR) threatened to sanction oil companies fornot uploading their respective oil production dataon the DPR platform. Ahmad Shakur, actingdirector of the department, gave the warning ata sensitization workshop organized by DPR onthe National Production Monitoring System(NPSM) for oil and gas operators in Lagos.

According to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN),about 75 compliance officers from the oil andgas firms attended the workshop.

Shakur, represented by Akpomudjere Okiemute,Assistant Director, Management Branch ofUpstream Sector of DPR, said the purpose wasto ensure full compliance to production andexport data. Shakur said that a collectiveplatform would deepen stakeholders’understanding of the operations and relevance ofNPMS to the public.

“The NPMS is a web-based platform thatprovides rapid and efficient electronic datacollection database and reporting systemwhich replaced the paper-based reporting,”he said.

Partners Plan ProductionBoost on Angola’s Block 15US supermajor ExxonMobil says that along withpartners, it plans to invest in increasing productionon Angola’s Block 15. The company said the planis to increase production by a further 40,000 bpd.

ExxonMobil, the operator, says that it willconduct a multi-year drilling program on theblock and instal l new infrastructuretechnology to increase capacity of existing subseaflow lines.

Changes to the PSA will extend operations through2032 and bring Angola’s state-owned Sonangolinto the Block 15 partnership with a 10% interest.In addition to ExxonMobil, BP, ENI, and Equinorare also partners on the block

GPPSL Acquires EquipmentNigerian indigenous services firm, Global Processand Pipeline Services Limited (GPPSL), acquiredthree massive flooding pumps with the capacityof 3,150 USG per minute and close to 600 PSIeach, together with three massive lifting pump(6,000 USG/Min) each and other connectionsthat go with the equipment.

“They are high pressure, high volume and noother company can boast of such flooding pumpsin West Africa,” chief executive officer of GPPSL,Obi Uzu told reporters on the sideline of therecently concluded 2019 Nigerian Oil & Gas(NOG) conference and exhibition in Abuja.

Nigeria is on the verge of completing the 48-inchpipeline, the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano (AKK)pipeline, and there are also plans for another bigpipeline project that will run from Nigeria toNorth Africa.

“Those are massive projects that will need ourkind of equipment. Besides there is alsorequirement for big pipeline services in-country,”Uzu said.

GPPSL also acquired six Air Loaders, whichinclude pneumatic suction pumps for cleaning offloating production, storage and offloading(FPSO) tanks. The FPSOs will require cleaning,according to the Department of PetroleumResources related regulation.

Libya Hits Five Month Oil Flow LowLibya saw its oil production drop by around500,000 bpd to 1 million bpd, the lowest thecountry has seen in five months. The drop inproduction is mainly due to an unidentified groupreportedly closing a valve and shutting down the

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North African country’s largest field, the Sharara,on July 20.

NOC, the state-run oil and gas firm, declared aforce majeure on Sharara production. Thedeclaration effectively removed 290,000 bpd fromLibya’s totals and removed roughly $19 millionper day from government coffers.

Commenting on the situation, NOC ChairmanMustafa Sanalla said in a statement, “Deliberateattempts to sabotage pipelines and productionhurt both national oil revenues and critical powersupply for everyday Libyans.”

The force majeure was lifted on July 22 after itstopped loading crude oil for the weekend fromthe Zawiya terminal.

Total Achieves No-Routine Flare at EginaTotal Exploration and Production has achievedNo-Routine-Gas-Flaring at its Egina FPSOoffshore Nigeria. The achievement follows thecommissioning of the gas compressionsystem on the Egina field, according toChar les Ebereonwu, Tota l ’s countrycommunications manager.

Ebereonwu said in a statement from Lagos, thatthe associated gas from the field was now beingcompressed, transported via the Akpo/Amenamgas export line and monetized through the NigeriaLiquefied Natural Gas facility.

He explained that Total has honored itscommitment to the rule of law of its hostcountry by fully abiding by the NigerianGovernment’s Gazetted Flare Gas Regulationsof 2018.

Ganope Pushes Back Bid DeadlineEgypt’s state-run firm in charge of oil and gasactivities in Upper Egypt, Ganoub El WadiPetroleum Holding Company (Ganope),extended the deadline for receiving offers for itsinternational bid round in the Red Sea to mid-September, instead of August. The push back ofthe deadline allows more companies to submittheir offers, Al-Shorouk reported.

The Red Sea licensing round was launched inMarch, offering up 10 offshore exploration blocksin the Egyptian Red Sea.

Under Egypt’s PSA regime, bid winners will havethe right to sell their share of production locallyor export it globally after the Ministry ofPetroleum’s approval. The Minister of Petroleum,Tarek El-Molla, previously noted he expectedincreased exploration activities in the Red Seaafter the maritime border demarcation with SaudiArabia.

Ganope signed two contracts with Schlumbergerand TGS to conduct seismic surveys and gatherdata in the Red Sea and Upper Egypt in 2018.

Phase II at Otakikpo ApprovedGreen Energy International (GEIL) receivedapproval from Nigeria’s Department of PetroleumResources for the field development plan (FDP)and environmental impact assessment for thePhase II development of the Otakikpo marginalfield in OML 11.

The approval follows the signing of a MoUwith a consortium of international financiers fora package of more than $350 million to moveforward the second phase development ofOtakikpo. The consortium includes aninternational bank based in London, a crude oiloff-taker, and an EPIC contractor.

The FDP involves the drilling of seven additionalwells and expansion of the crude processinginfrastructure. The plan also includes theconstruction of an onshore terminal with acapacity of 1.3 million barrels and a 17-km exportpipeline to connect the terminal to an offshoreloading system.

GEIL director of corporate affairs, Olusegun Ilori,said that the company intends to increaseproduction from 6,000 bpd to 20,000 bpd.

ENI Sees EgyptianDiscoveries and Starts ProductionENI started production from the South WestMeleiha Development Lease in the EgyptianWestern Desert. The current production,delivered through two oil production wells, isaround 5,000 bpd and is expected to reach7,000 bpd in September.

The oil is transported and treated at the MeleihaPlant facilities operated by AGIBA, a companyequally held by IEOC and EGPC. The oildiscoveries in the South West Meleiha were madein 2018 with remaining prospects to drill.

AGIBA, the operating vehicle on behalf ofEGPC and ENI, also recently made two additionalnear field oil discoveries in the Meleihadevelopment lease in the Western Desert,specifically on the Basma and Shemy prospects.On Basma, two wells were successfully drilledand are already in production from theJurassic Khatabta formation. On the Shemyprospect, a well is currently under testing andtargeting oil from the Matruh sands. Moreover,in the Meleiha development lease, AGIBA hassuccessfully continued a deepening campaignon existing shallow wells targeting theAlam El Bueib Cretaceous formation. Thesedeepened producers are now contributingwith about 6,000 bpd to the Meleihaproduction totals.

In the Nile Delta area, within the new El Qar’aonshore exploration lease granted in 2018, thecompany successfully drilled and tested theEl Qar’a-NE1 well. This well encountered gas inthe sandstones of the Abu Madi formation.During the clean-up, the well delivered 17Mmscf/d and associated condensates. The wellwill be tied-in to existing facilities and theproduction will be delivered to the Abu Madi gasplant operated by Petrobel (IEOC 50% - EGPC50%) upon the granting of the development lease.

Finally, in the Gulf of Suez, in the Abu RudeisSidri development lease, IEOC, through Petrobel,has successfully drilled a new structure on theSidri South exploration prospect which resultedin an oil discovery. The new discovery has beenmade through the Sidri-23 well in pre-Miocenesequences. The discovery may hold up to 200million barrels of oil in place. The well has beencompleted and brought on stream throughproduction facilities available in the area.Petrobel plans to develop the new discovery with10 wells that will be drilled in the near future.

New Licensing Round for AngolaAngola’s recently formed National Agency forPetroleum and Gas (ANPG), the NationalConcessionaire for the Angolan petroleum sector,announced in June that a new petroleum licensinground will launch on October 2.

The licensing round is an implementing step ofthe ‘General Strategy for Awarding ofPetroleum Concessions’ (2019-2025), publicizedin February 2019.

Ten petroleum concessions in the Namibe andBenguela Basins will be put on offer: Blocks 11,12, 13, 27, 28, 29, 41, 42 and 43 (in the NamibeBasin) and Block 10 (in the Benguela Basin).

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The dates of the roadshows and the relevant Termsof Reference are expected to be disclosed shortlyby the ANPG.

UK and Norway PledgeSupport to Nigeria’s O&G SectorThe UK and the Norwegian governments pledgedtheir respective support to drive growth anddevelopment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector. Thetwo countries reiterated their commitment at theNigerian Oil and Gas Conference and Exhibition,in Abuja.

The British High Commissioner to Nigeria,Catriona Laing, said Nigeria was the country’ssecond largest partner in Africa, adding that 95%of UK’s import was from Nigeria. “We have avery strong bilateral and we have strong ambitionwith what we are doing with Nigeria,” she said,and went on to say that the UK was ready to aidNigeria in tackling some of its problems inthe sector.

For his part, Norwegian Ambassador to Nigeria,Jens-Petter Kjemprud, said PresidentMuhammadu Buhari needed the oil sector totackle numerous challenges in the country.Intimating that Nigeria should take heed ofNorway’s example, noting that the oil sector hadbeen used to develop Norway and by extensionenhance growth and development.

“If the oil and gas sector is well developed andmanaged well, it will be useful in solving manyof the problems in Nigeria. President Buharineeds to support the sector because it is veryrelevant for the development of the country,”he said.

ENI and Sonatrachto Accelerate DevelopmentsENI and Sonatrach confirmed their intention toaccelerate the development of new oil and gasprojects in Algeria’s North Berkine. Thedevelopment of the projects will allow for theNorth African country to significantly increaseits national production capacity.

The project is composed of two phases. The first,related to oil development, started up last May,just three months after the entry into force of thefarm-in agreement on the block. The secondphase, related to gas development, will see startup at the end of September after the completionof the BRN-MLE pipeline.

The project is an example of the “fast track”arising from a joint effort of Sonatrach and ENI,based on the shared strategy for an acceleratedtime to market as well as on the availability andknow-how of Sonatrach’s contractor companies

called to work on the project for their advancedtechnology and methodological approach whichemploys streamlined procedures resulting in fasteroperations.

The first phase of the oil project in North Berkinewere planned to reach a plateau production of10,000 gross barrels by the end of July, while thedevelopment of the gas project will reach anincremental production of 6 million cubic metersand 7,000 barrels of associated liquid by the endof the year.

SDX Achieves Firstof Three Project MilestonesSDX Energy updated its activities in Egypt withthe news that its development of the SouthDisouq concession (SDX 55% workinginterest and operator) continues on schedule andon budget. The company saw factoryacceptance tests for the central processingfacility (CPF) and compressor conducted.This was the first of three project milestones tobe completed.

SDX expects the equipment for the South Disouqto arrive in mid-August as they are currentlybeing shipped to Egypt. First gas is set for Q4 ofthis year.

The company is now working on interpreting theSouth Disouq 3D data and according to MarkReid, CFO and interim CEO of the company,once this is complete potential drilling targetswill be assessed.

Remedial Tubing PatchInstalled on Gbetiokun-3Eland Oil & Gas revealed that a remedial tubingpatch was installed on the Gbetiokun-3 well onNigeria’s OML 40. Lekoil, a partner on OML 40,previously announced that it was undertakingnecessary remedial work on the Gbetiokun-3short string. The well was drilled as an appraisalwell in Q4 2018 with the dual completion on theD9000 and E4000 reservoirs being installed inQ1 2019.

During pressure testing, a small leak was identifiedon the shallower D9000 completion string.Following further diagnostic logging, the leakwas located, and a remedial tubing patch wassuccessfully installed.

At present, the short string is being producedwith the temporary facilities on location. Initialgross rates of some 3,880 bpd have been recordedat a choke size of 36/64". The deep E4000 intervalwas tested in Q1 2019 and achieved choke-limitedgross rates of 3,000 bpd, in line with pre-drillexpectations.

Eland expects the field to be brought onstreamin July through the Early Production Facility,presently being installed, with initial grossproduction of approximately 12,000 bpd (net5,400 bpd) from the Gbetiokun-1 and -3 wells.

Over the period, the field development plan forthe Gbetiokun was approved by Nigeria’spetroleum department. Five additional productionwells are planned during Phase one of thedevelopment, followed by the drilling of a furthersix production wells and a single workover wellduring Phase 2.

Pertamina Plans AmbitiousDrilling Program in AlgeriaIndonesia’s PT Pertamina is looking at anambitious drilling program in Algeria. As it looksto boost production, the company unveiled a planfor growth in the North African country, whichforecasts a 10% increase in oil and gas productionbefore the end of 2020.

The current production of oil is at 20,000 bpdand is expected to reach between 22,000 and23,000 bpd, eventually. Of the 20,000 bpd thatPertamina currently produces in Algeria, 18,000bpd is exported home by the company.

In a press release, the company’s managingdirector, Denie S. Tampubolon, said that its20-well drilling program over several fields thathave seen little drilling, leads to optimism thatproduction can be raised.

Pengassan Calls on Kyari to Act FastNigeria’s oil and gas union, Pengassan, called onthe new board of NNPC to act fast on thechallenges facing the industry. In a letter to thenew NNPC boss, Mele Kyari, signed by theGeneral-Secretary Comrade LumumbaOkugbawa, the union said challenges such aspipeline vandalism, crude oil theft, inadequateinfrastructure and pricing uncertainties should belooked into.

“We agree that the nation’s oil and gas industryis on a steady progression to the next level.However, the challenges associated with pipelinevandalism, crude oil theft, inadequateinfrastructure, pricing uncertainties, and theobsolete refineries as well as the contentious fuelsubsidy issues and resting of the PetroleumIndustry Bill (PIB), are issues the Nigerian massesexpect the new NNPC Board to champion.” Theunion described Kyari’s appointment as well-deserved and a recognition of his 27 years ofcontributions and exemplary service to the NNPCgroup, the nation’s oil and gas sector and thegrowing economy that is majorly dependent onthe industry.


AFRICA AT LARGE

Ghana Keeps Drillships BusyTullow Oil and its various partners in Ghana havekept two rigs busy over H1 of this year. The StenaForth and Maersk Venturer drillships worked intandem on Ghana drilling and completionoperations throughout the period with four wellsdrilled and three wells completed.

The Stena Forth drillship has now left Ghana andis headed across the Atlantic to commence drillingin Guyana. The Maersk Venturer will remain inGhana and will complete the ongoing Enyenra-14 production well, a Jubilee producer and anEnyenra water-injector, before switching todrilling operations for the remainder of the year.

The completion of the Enyenra-14 productionwell is taking longer than anticipated andconsequently will be onstream later than planned.This delay has been reflected in a small revisionto full year guidance for TEN which has beenadjusted to around 71,000 bpd gross, from 73,000bpd. Following strong performance from Jubilee,production guidance for the year has been adjustedto around 95,000 bpd gross, up from 93,000 bpd.

Reservoir performance in H1 from existing andnew wells has been in line with expectations atboth fields and Tullow expects to reach grossproduction from Ghana of around 180,000 bpdin H2.

Invictus Reveals Resource ReportInvictus Energy released the findings of anIndependent Resource Report carried out byGetech Group for its Cabora Bassa Basin Project.The report by Getech estimated substantialresource potential at the project in Zimbabwe.

Invictus Managing Director Scott Macmillancommented, “The Mzarabani Prospect has grownsignificantly in its scale and represents one of thelargest conventional exploration targetsglobally. The Independent Report by Getech hasestimated the net mean recoverable conventionalpotential of the massive stacked Mzarabaniprospect of 1.3 billion boe (barrels of oilequivalent) consisting of 6.5 Tcf and 200 millionbarrels of condensate net to Invictus. The estimatefor the primary Upper Angwa target within the

Mzarabani Prospect has increased to 4.4 Tcf plus187 million barrels of conventional gas-condensateon a gross mean unrisked basis.

“In addition, the newly identified Msasa Prospect,a new substantial structural prospect within SG4571 which is also a stacked anticline feature, isestimated to contain 1.05 Tcf and 44 millionbarrels of conventional gas-condensate on a totalgross mean unrisked basis,” he added.

Invictus has engaged UK-based ENVOI to runthe farmout process for SG 4571. The companyhas received significant industry interestahead of the data room opening and iscurrently executing confidentiality agreementswith several parties.

It has also engaged the Scientific and IndustrialResearch and Development Center (SIRDC) toconduct an Environmental Impact Assessment(EIA) of SG 4571. The commencement of theEIA aims to ensure all necessary pre-drillingpermits and activities are completed well aheadof schedule. SIRDC has experience in carryingout EIAs of developmental projects in fields suchas agriculture, mining, energy generation andconstruction projects.

Senegal Addsto Greater Tortue ResourcesAdditional resources have been added to thebounty already discovered offshore Senegal. BPand Kosmos Energy, along with the state-runfirms from both Mauritania and Senegal, drilledthe Greater Tortue Ahmeyim-1 well with success.

The well, drilled on the eastern anticline withinthe unit development area of Greater Tortue, hasencountered approximately 30 meters of net gaspay in high-quality Albian reservoir.

The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project is ontrack to deliver first gas in the first half of2022, and the well (which has been designed asa future producer) will be used to furtheroptimize the development drilling plans for theBP-operated project.

Commenting on the results of the GTA-1 well,chairman and CEO Andrew G. Inglis of Kosmossaid: “The GTA-1 well confirms our expectationthat the gas resource at Greater TortueAhmeyim will continue to grow over time andcould lead to further expansion of this world-scale 10 MTPA LNG project. In addition,Kosmos’ process to sell down its interest to 10percent has received considerable interest fromthe industry, with initial bids expected over the

summer, and transaction conclusion anticipatedby year end.”

Located offshore Senegal, the GTA-1 well wasdrilled in approximately 2,500 meters of water,approximately 10 kms inboard of theGuembeul-1A and Tortue-1 wells, to a total depthof 4,884 meters.

The Ensco DS-12 rig, working on behalf of theoperator BP, will now drill the Yakaar-2 appraisalwell in Senegal, which was expected to spud inthe coming month, before drilling the Orca-1exploration well in Mauritania, which is expectedto spud late in Q3.

ENI and VitolGarner More Ghanaian AcreageENI and Vitol have gained new acreage offshoreGhana. The two firms picked up a stake in theBlock WB03 exploration and production license.The block was offered in Ghana’s competitivebidding process.

Located in Ghana’s Tano Basin, ENI will hold a70% stake and Vitol will hold the remaining 30%.ENI will be the operator of the license and besidesVitol, the JV will include GNPC and a localregistered company that will be identified duringcontract finalization.

The contract award is subject to approval fromGhanaian authorities.

ENI also holds rights to the developmentareas of Sankofa and Gye Nyame as well asto the exploration and production area ofCTP-Block 4. The new block is locatedapproximately 50 km south-east from the FPSOJohn Agyekum Kufuor that is currently producingoil and gas from the Sankofa Field. The proximityof the FPSO will allow for synergies in case ofnew discoveries in Block WB03.

Morocco Drilling Campaign PlannedSDX Energy’s planning of a 12-well drillingcampaign in Morocco has begun. The companyholds a 75% interest and is operator in Morocco.According to the company, it has ordered longlead items, with the drilling rig and all other keycontracts finalized.

The drilling campaign is targeting 15 Bcf of grossunrisked prospective resources.The campaign isexpected to commence in Q4 2019 and is targetingsufficient reserves to satisfy existingcustomers’ forecast demand, as well as testingnew play-opening areas of prospectivity acrossthe portfolio.

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Total Congo Uses Cementless CompletionTechnology from Welltec®

Welltec® saw its first deployment of a trulycementless completion in the Republic of Congo(ROC) during Q2. Total E&P Congo pushed theboundaries of Metal Expandable Annular Sealingtechnology by deploying the world’s firstcementless completion using the Welltec® AnnularIsolation (WAITM) in an open hole on its MohoNorth Albian field. This builds on the E&P firm’sexperience gained through the continuousdeployment of the Welltec® Annular Barrier(WAB®) on the same field in Q1 2017.

The WAITM uses multiple metal expandablepackers to provide long length open hole zonalisolation to replace the functions of traditionalcement, leading to significant gains in efficiencyin the overall well construction process. Thetechnology significantly reduces the free annulusspace between the liner/casing and the open holewhich can be beneficial in highly layeredreservoirs of varying permeability whereselective production, stimulation or water shutoff is required.

In addition to the efficiency gains, the simplifiedwell completions operations enabled by the WAITM

eliminated multiple operational risks associatedwith the cementing process in depleted and over-pressured reservoirs.

Lesedi 3 Building PressureTlou Energy saw its Lesedi 3 production pod inBotswana successfully reach Critical DesorptionPressure (CDP). CDP is the pressure that gasbegins to come out of the coal after a carefuldewatering process. Gas is now starting to comeout of the coal and is steadily building pressureinside the closed casing.

A short-term gas flow test at Lesedi 3 took placeafter a significant gas pressure build-up insidethe well casing. The result of this test is consideredby Tlou to represent a positive indication of thepod’s potential.

Post the short-term test, dewatering has continuedwith the plan to hold the water level just above

the coal and continue to draw down pressure inthe well allowing gas to flow in a controlledmanner, ideally leading to a long-term gas flowfrom the Lesedi 3 pod.

4D OBN ContractAward in West AfricaSeabed Geosolutions was awarded a 4D oceanbottom node (OBN) monitor survey in WestAfrica for an unnamed major oil firm. The project,for which the data is expected to be acquired overa two-month period during Q3, will cover about151 sq km in water depths up to 600 meters. Theocean bottom nodes will be deployed by remotelyoperated vehicles.

Contract for ChinguettiDecommissioning Phase II AwardedExpro won a contract from Pacific Drilling’ssubsidiary, Pacific Santa Ana, for the provisionof an Intervention Riser System (IRS) for adecommissioning project in Africa. The contractcomes from Petronas for its Chinguetti FieldPhase II plug and abandonment offshoreMauritania.

The contract, valued at $20 million, will seeExpro provide its IRS system with associatedsurface support equipment, to be deployed fromPacific Drilling’s drillship, Pacific Santa Ana.The contracted work will take place for anestimated 360 days.

Worldwide Oilfield Machine (WOM) willsupport Expro with the provision of thesubsea well access system and technicalsupport team.

The IRS safely establishes and maintains wellaccess throughout riser to surface operations,replicating the functionality of the blow-outpreventer and providing a safe and reliable meansof well control, connected directly to theproduction tree. With increased coiled tubingcutting and disconnect capability, the IRS systemprovides an alternative dual barrier, through-tubing system.

The award includes supplying a range of services,including the subsea well access system,lubricator valve, surface flowhead, umbilicals,topsides control equipment and IWOCS(installation and workover control system)package. Expro will also provide anonshore project management team to supportPacific Drilling throughout the projectplanning and execution phases, based in Expro’soffice in Kuala Lumpur and then locally onshorein Mauritania.

West Gemini Secures Nine-Well ContractSeadrill secured another contract offshore WestAfrica. The contract, for use of its West Geminidrillship, is for nine wells. The contract containsthree options for two wells each.

The company said that the total value for the firmportion of the contract is expected to beapproximately $84 million with commencementexpected in early Q4 2019 and running throughQ4 2020.

The rig is currently finishing out its contract withENI in Angola. The ENI contract expires at theend of August.

Seadrill announced previously that it had secureda one-well contract with PC Gabon UpstreamS.A. for the West Polaris to work offshore Gabon.Backlog is expected to be approximately $22million excluding mobilization fees withcommencement expected in September 2019 andrunning to the end of 2019.

Rig Secured forSouth Africa Drilling CampaignAfrica Energy Corp. and the JV partners on Block11B/12B offshore South Africa have contracteda rig for an exploration program on the block.The partnership contracted the Deepsea Stavangersemi-submersible rig from Odfjell Drilling fortheir multi-well drilling program.

Garrett Soden, Africa Energy’s President andCEO, commented, “We are very pleased thatTotal was able to secure the Deepsea Stavangerrig again for the next phase of drilling onBlock 11B/12B offshore South Africa. Using thesame equipment and crew that drilled theBrulpadda oil and gas discovery earlier this yearshould save time and reduce cost. We lookforward to starting the multi-well drilling programwith the spud of the Luiperd Prospect inQ1 2020.”

Block 11B/12Bis located in the Outeniqua Basin175 km off the southern coast of South Africa.The block covers an area of 19,000 sq km withwater depths ranging from 200 to 1,800 meters.

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The Paddavissie Fairway in the southwest cornerof the block includes the Brulpadda discoverymade by the partners, as well as several submarinefan prospects.

The success at both the Brulpadda primary andsecondary targets significantly de-risks the othersimilar prospects identified on 2D seismic. TheJV partnership for Block 11B/12B recentlycompleted the first phase of the 3D seismicacquisition program over the Paddavissie Fairway.The Brulpadda well results will be integratedwith the 3D seismic data in advance of next year’sdrilling program, which will include up to threeexploration wells.

Africa Energy holds 49% of the shares in MainStreet 1549 Proprietary Limited, which has a10% participating interest in Block 11B/12B.Total SA is operator and has a 45% interest inBlock 11B/12B, while Qatar Petroleum andCanadian Natural Resources Ltd. have 25% and20% interests, respectively.

Angolan and Mozambican Service Firms toParticipate in Equa G’s O & G Meeting DayAngolan and Mozambican services companieswill participate in Equatorial Guinea’s Oil & GasMeeting Day in Malabo on October 1 and 2,2019. The delegation will be led by President ofthe African Energy Chamber in Angola,Sergio Pugliese.

The growth of Africa’s oil & gas sector presentsthe continent’s services companies withtremendous opportunities for partnerships andregional expansion. As Africa’s second largestoil producer and thanks to its strong local contentefforts, Angola is now home to countless services

companies with the necessary capacities to expandacross sub-Saharan Africa.

“Angola is known for having strong local servicescompanies,” said Sergio Pugliese. “The growthof our local content is now accelerating thanksto the reforms made by President João Lourençoand his administration. We now have Angolancompanies that developed strong capabilities andare ready to expand beyond Angola. They areseeking partnerships and deals with other Africanand international services and technologycompanies, to serve both their regional expansionplans but also to further support the growth ofthe Angolan industry at home. The Oil & GasMeeting Day provides the perfect platform toseal such deals.”

The African Energy Chamber is supporting theOil & Gas Meeting Day, a Year of Energy eventorganized by Equatorial Guinea’s NationalAlliance of Hydrocarbons Service Companies(NAHSCO).

The services industry is a massive job creatorand a strong pillar of the global oil & gas industry.As cooperation among African oil marketsincreases, the need for services companies to stepup their game and pursue an aggressive outreachhas become a necessity.

Qatar PetroleumPicks Up Stakes Offshore KenyaQatar Petroleum has picked up stakes in threeblocks offshore Kenya through a deal with ENIand Total. The three offshore blocks are L11A,L11B, and L12. The blocks are located in whatis considered to be a frontier and largelyunexplored area in the Lamu Basin.

The agreement is subject to customary regulatoryapprovals by the government of Kenya. Followingsuch approval, the partners comprising theconsortium will consist of affiliates of each ofENI (operator) with a 41.25% participatinginterest, Total with a 33.75% participating interest,and Qatar Petroleum with a 25% participatinginterest.

Commenting on this occasion, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs,and President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said:“We are pleased to sign this agreement toparticipate in exploring these frontier offshoreareas in Kenya and to further strengthen ourpresence in Africa.”

Al-Kaabi also added: “We hope that theexploration efforts are successful, and we lookforward to collaborating with our valuable partnersEni and Total, and the government of Kenya inthese blocks. I would like to take this opportunityto thank the Kenyan authorities and our partnersfor their ongoing and continued support.”

Write [email protected] book you space

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AFRICAN POLITICS

AU to Launch OperationalPhase of AfCFTA, Buhari Signs OnThe African Union launched the operational phaseof the AfCFTA on the July 7 in Niamey, at anExtraordinary Summit of Heads of State andGovernment. Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairpersonof the AUC, hailed the upcoming launch as a

“remarkable” and “historic” achievement. Thelaunch was part of a series of statutory andtechnical meetings being held in the Nigeriencapital from the 4th to the 8th, which included thefirst coordination meeting between the AU andthe Regional Economic Communities (RECs).

The launch of the AfCFTA follows the cominginto force of the trade area on May 30, after thedeposit of the required minimum of 22 ratificationsby member states of the AU. Since then threemore instruments of ratification have beendeposited, bringing the total number of countriesthat have ratified the AfCFTA to 25.

With the launch of the operational phase, tradersacross Africa will be able to make use ofpreferential trading arrangements offered by theAfCFTA, with the understanding that the tradetransactions are among the Member States thathave deposited the instruments of ratification andthose that conform to the provisions on rules oforigin governing trade in the AfCFTA.

The Assembly also decided on the location of theAfCFTA secretariat which will have the principalfunction of implementing the agreement. Sevenmember states – Egypt, Swaziland, Ethiopia,Kenya, Ghana, Madagascar and Senegal submittedbids to host the secretariat – with Ghana beingnamed the host nation. Actual trading underAfCFTA is expected to begin a year from now

At the AU summit, Nigerian PresidentMuhammadu Buhari signed up to the $3-trillionAfCFTA. Nigeria was one of the last countriesto commit to the trade pact. At the signing, Buharicalled on the continent’s nations to band togetherto attract investment, grow local manufacturingand combat smuggling.

The African Continental Free Trade Agreementaims to unite 1.3 billion people, creating a

$3.4-trillion economic block that could usher ina new era of development.

Sudan: Power SharingAgreement ReachedThe military council and a coalition of oppositionand protest groups in Sudan have come to anagreement on power sharing. The groupshave agreed provisionally to share power forthree years.

The agreement is seen as the first step towardsmoving Sudan beyond its history of dictatorship.It also gives rise to hopes of a peaceful transferof power.

For decades Sudan was ruled by Omar al Bashir,whose regime was plagued by internal conflictsand years of economic crisis for the country whicheventually triggered Sudan’s own version of theArab Spring of late-2010/2011 with disgruntledSudanese taking to the streets in protest. Theseprotests led to the removal of Bashir.

The country saw relations between the militarycouncil and the Forces for Freedom and Change(FFC) alliance break down when security forceskilled dozens as they cleared a sit-in on June 3.But protesters were not deterred and huge protestsagainst the military on June 30 led to Africanmediators brokering a return to direct talks.

The two sides agreed to “establish a sovereigncouncil by rotation between the military andcivilians for a period of three years or slightlymore,” African Union mediator Mohamed HassanLebatt told a news conference.

The council will be led for the first 21 monthsby the military, and for the final 18 months bycivilians, a statement from the SudaneseProfessionals Association (SPA) said. The councilwill be Sudan’s highest authority. It will comprisefive military members and five civilian appointees,with an additional civilian member agreed by thetwo sides.

URP Candidate WinsMauritanian Presidential VoteOn June 22, about 1.5 million Mauritanians wentto the polls to cast their vote for president.Mohamed Ould Ghazouani, from Mauritania’sruling party, Union for the Republic Party (URP),won the election taking 52% of the vote.

Biram Dah Abeid, Ghazouani’s nearest rival, andthe anti-slavery campaigner, amassed 18.58% ofthe vote, while the remaining candidates were insingle digits. Three of the losing candidateslodged an appeal, alleging irregularities in the

voting process. The African Union, acting asobserver, was satisfied the process wastransparent.

This election represents the country’s first peacefultransfer of power by elected presidents since thecountry gained its independence from France in1960, albeit both were from the URP.

Tunisia’s President DiesTunisian PresidentBeji Caid Essebsipassed away at age 92in a military hospitalon July 25. Essebsihad previously beenhospitalized in lateJune for a “severehealth crisis.” Thenext day, a presidentialadviser said that his condition was improving.Reports also had it that he phoned the primeminister to discuss the bombings that took placethe previous day. Less than a month later, on July24 he was readmitted to the hospital andsubsequently died from his illness.

President Essebsi was the country’s first freelyelected president following its 2011 pro-democracy uprising that started the Arab Spring.Essebsi had announced before his death that hewould not seek re-election in the upcomingNovember polls, saying a younger person shouldlead the country.

Twin Suicide Attacks in TunisTunisia suffered two suicide blasts in the capitalof Tunis on June 27. A police station was targetedin the first attack. One police officer was killed,and several other people were wounded.

According to an AFP report, body parts could befound cast about on the road around thepolice car.

The second attacker blew himself up momentslater at a national guard base in the al-Qarjanidistrict, the Ministry of Interior confirmed. Foursecurity personnel were wounded in that attack.

Libya’s GNA Retakes GharyanAccording to regional reports, forces allied to theUN-recognized government in Libya, armed withweapons from Turkey, were able to retakeGharyan, located just south of the capital ofTripoli, in late June. This town is strategic toopposition military commander Khalifa Haftar’stroops, the Libya National Army (LNA). TheLNA is largely backed by the UAE, Saudi Arabia,France and Egypt.

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Government of National Accord (GNA)spokesman Mustafa al-Mejii, told the AFP,“Gharyan is under our total control.” He also said18 LNA soldiers were taken prisoner and dozenswere killed.

The battle between the LNA and GNA has heatedup considerably over the last two months. LNAhas a self-stated goal of taking over the countryand has been lobbying Washington forsupport. It has gone so far as to hire PR firmLinden Government Solutions, to help put on agood face.

The GNA, for its part, has called on the US toexert pressure on its allies to stop supportingHaftar’s Libyan National Army. “We urge the USadministration to use its leverage to end thesupport provided by Egypt and Saudi Arabia toHaftar,” Ahmed Mitig, deputy head of the LibyanPresidential Council, said on Fox News earlierin June.

Meanwhile, despite Egypt, France and UAEbacking Haftar, the three joined with Italy, theUS and the UK in issuing a joint statementcalling for a cessation of hostilities on July 16.“The governments of Egypt, France, Italy, theUnited Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, andthe United States of America reiterate theirdeep concern about ongoing hostilities in Tripoli,call for an immediate de-escalation and halt tothe current fighting, and urge the promptreturn to the UN-mediated political process.There can be no military solution in Libya.Persistent violence has claimed nearly 1,100 lives,displaced more than 100,000, and fueled agrowing humanitarian emergency. The ongoingconfrontation has threatened to destabilizeLibya’s energy sector, and exacerbated thet ragedy of human migrat ion in theMediterranean.

We note our deep concerns about the ongoingattempts by terrorist groups to exploit the security

vacuum in the country, call on all parties to theTripoli conflict to dissociate themselves from allsuch terrorists and individuals designated by theUN Sanctions Committee, and renew ourcommitment to see those responsible for furtherinstability held accountable.

“We fully support the leadership of UN SpecialRepresentative of the Secretary-General GhassanSalamé as he works to stabilize the situation inTripoli, restore confidence in order to achieve acessation of hostilities, expand his engagementthroughout Libya, promote inclusive dialogue,and create the conditions for the resumption ofthe UN political process…”

Central African Republic:Armed Group Kills 46 CiviliansFighters from the armed group Return,Reclamation, Rehabilitation, or 3R, killed at least46 civilians on May 21, 2019, in three attacks inOuham Pendé province in the Central AfricanRepublic. In February, 14 armed groups, including3R, signed a peace accord with the Central Africangovernment and in March, the 3R commander,General Sidiki Abass (also known as Bi SidiSouleymane) was appointed by presidential decreeas a military adviser to the prime minister.

“The killings of these civilians are war crimesthat need to be effectively investigated and thoseresponsible brought to justice,” said Lewis Mudge,Central Africa director at Human Rights Watch.“That the evidence implicates 3R and Abass, whohave signed a peace accord designed to end suchcrimes, makes a prompt and independentinvestigation all the more urgent.”

The May 21 attacks took place in the town ofBohong and the villages of Koundjili andLemouna, in the northwestern part of the country,all at around the same time, which suggests theymay have been coordinated. Several people whoattended a meeting with Abass in Bohong the daybefore the attacks told Human Rights Watch that

in the meeting, he threatened to carry out attackson civilians.

The 3R group emerged in late 2015 assertingthat they were needed to protect the minorityPeuhl population in the region from attacks byanti-balaka militia who were targeting Muslimsin the aftermath of violence that started in early2013. In April and May 2016, 3R conductedattacks on villages in the Koui subprefecture,allegedly in retaliation for anti-balaka activity.3R attacks on civilians in 2016 and 2017 led tothe displacement of tens of thousands in theOuham Pendé province.

Somaliland Makes Gainson Recognition QuestSomaliland made a diplomatic breakthrough withthe state visit of the country’s president MusaBihi Abdi to Guinea at the invitation of PresidentAlpha Conde.

The visit is a sign of Somaliland’s rapidacceptance across the African continent and itsgrowing economic and trading links withother nations as it looks for recognition asan autonomous territory. During the meeting,both presidents pledged to find ways ofworking together in trade and fosteringcooperation.

The Somaliland government is steadily buildingits case for recognition based on trade and businessopportunities with its fellow Africans, arguingthat an independent Somaliland capable of tradingwith African and international partners will be abenefit to all and strengthen peace, prosperityand security.

Somaliland’s Minister for Foreign affairs andInternational Cooperation, Yassin HajiMohamoud, said the mission to Guinea is to buildthe same kind of close relations with West Africancountries as Somaliland enjoys with East Africannations.


DOWNSTREAM NEWS

Work Begins on Coral Sul FLNG HullENI started the installation works on the hull ofthe Coral Sul FLNG vessel that is destined to sitoffshore Mozambique. The FLNG unit is part ofthe Italian firm’s Coral South project. The CoralSouth is expected to produce 450 Bcm from theCoral reservoir.

The hull is expected to be launched in 2020, inline with the planned production startup of theCoral South Project in 2022. The Coral Sul FLNGfacility will have a gas liquefaction capacity of3.4 million tons per year when completed andwill be the first FLNG vessel ever to be deployedin the deep waters offshore Africa.

Construction works on the Coral Sul FLNGproject started in 2018 and are ongoing.Construction of the mooring turret began inMarch; construction of the hull’s 24 modules thatcontain the LNG storage tanks and sections ofthe treatment facilities began in September.Construction of the topside, consisting of 12 gastreatment and LNG modules, started lastNovember, along with the living quarters. By theend of 2019 the overall progress of the project isexpected to exceed 60% completion with thetotal man-hours worked shortly expected to reach10 million.

ExxonMobil EyesDamietta for Logistics CenterTariq Shaheen, president of Egypt’s Port AuthorityDamietta (DPA), told reporters that the USsupermajor ExxonMobil plans to make the portof Damietta an important logistics center. Thenews comes following a meeting between DPAofficials and representatives of ExxonMobil.

ExxonMobil, which has very little presence inthe Egyptian oil and gas upstream, could thusbecome an important player in the gas valuechain, currently being built on site, which willmake Egypt the most important regionalenergy hub.

No further details on the content of the meetingwere given, but Shaheen said the port is ready tooffer all the facilities available to carry out sucha project. Both sides have planned to hold furtherdiscussions to define the project.

NNPC to Divert 10%of Production to IndiaNNPC said it will divert 10% of its crude oilproduction to India to aid the country in resolvingits energy crisis. Group Managing Director of theNNPC, Mele Kyari, said Nigeria will continueto support India’s energy security challenge inwhatever way it can.

The NNPC spokesperson, Ndu Ughamadu, saidin a statement that Kyari stated this during thevisit of the Indian High Commissioner toNigeria, Abhay Thakur, to the NNPC headquartersin Abuja.

According to Ughamadu, Kyari said the recentMoU in energy security between Nigeria andIndia would further strengthen the bilateralrelations between the two countries.

“We are ready to have robust engagement withthe Indian trade team to Nigeria, to provide awin-win energy scenario. Every tradeopportunity that is available will be fullyexplored,” Kyari said.

Sonatrach Oil TankerFreed from Iranian AuthoritiesSonatrach, Algeria’s state-run oil and gas firm,revealed on July 21 that Iranian authorities hadfreed its oil tanker one hour and 15 minutes afterit was forced to enter Iranian territorial waterson July 19.

The tanker, MESDAR, of 2,000,000-barrelcapacity, sailing in the Strait of Hormuz wasasked by the Iranian coastguard to enter territorialwaters.

Sonatrach said in a statement that the situationwas cleared after an emergency hotline was setup between the two countries. The company alsoindicated that there were no human or materialcasualties and the cargo continued its journey toTanura in Saudi Arabia to onload oil for theChinese company UNIPEC.

El Molla and BechtelDiscuss Petchem InvestmentEgypt’s Minister of Petroleum, Tarek El Molla,met with Bechtel to discuss the development ofa new petrochemical complex. The proposedpetrochemical complex would be located inEgypt’s Suez Canal Economic Zone.

Nader Saad, the official spokesman of theEgyptian Cabinet, said that Bechtel is seeking toinvest further in Egypt. The firm has beenoperating in the country for decades.

Juba and KhartoumWork on Export ConstraintsSouth Sudan and Sudan have agreed to worktogether to find a solution to the constraintsexperienced exporting Juba’s crude throughKhartoum ports. Local media in South Sudancited Awow Daniel Chuang as saying that thetwo countries agreed to set up a coordination unitin Port Sudan to look at easing movement of oilproduction equipment coming to South Sudanthrough Sudanese territory.

Chuang said the new arrangements would easeoil exports and also help South Sudan to furtherincrease its daily oil output from the current170,000 bpd.

“We are going to monitor all the petroleumproduction materials that are coming into thecountry because oil producing companies arecurrently facing some challenges,” Chuang said,adding that South Sudan and Sudan are trying tosolve these issues to increase production.

Sasol Celebrates Openingof New Alkoxylation Plant in ChinaSasol Limited opened its new alkoxylation plantin Nanjing, China. This facility, Sasol’s largestexpansion project in China, will more than doubleits alkoxylation production capacity in the regionand will be supported by growing research anddevelopment and technical customer supportcapabilities.

Located at the Nanjing Jiangbei New MaterialHi-Tech Park (formerly known as NanjingChemical Industrial Park), construction ofthis 35-acre site commenced in June 2017 andthe plant reached commercial operation inApril this year. The plant will expand Sasol’scurrent alkoxylation capability to approximately150 kilotons per annum (ktpa), withadditional facilities for the production of anionicsurfactants.

The new plant can operate using either branchedor linear alcohols to meet the differentiatedcustomer requirements in applications such asdetergents, personal care, textile and leather,metalworking and lubrication, inks, paints andcoatings, as well oil and gas, enhanced oil recoveryand industrial cleaning.

This is Sasol’s first fully owned production facilityin Asia. The project is not only a significantexpansion of Sasol’s current operational footprintin the market, but also the first step towards arobust, differentiated expansion strategy forSasol’s Performance Chemicals businessthroughout the broader Asian region.

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EMG Gas Pipeline Tests CompleteDelek Drilling revealed that the month-long testson the EMG gas pipeline that will transportnatural gas from Israel’s gas fields to Egypt havebeen concluded. Testing on the pipeline beganon June 3.

According to comments by Global Platts, thetechnical aspect of work has been verified andthe pumping of the gas should start at the end of2019. Once the gas is transported to Egypt, it willbe converted into LNG before being exported.Part of this stream is expected to be redirectedto Israel.

Noble Energy, Delek Drilling, and the Egyptiancompany Sphinx EG worked to put the gaspipeline back into service, with a flow reversalcapacity from the Leviathan field to Egypt. Thepipeline has been inactive since 2012.

ENH Puts LNG Fund Raising on HoldOmar Mitha, the CEO of Mozambique’s state-owned ENH, said the government plans to suspendfund-raising to secure its stake in the MozambiqueLNG project. ENH, which controls 15% of sharesin the project, is supposed to mobilize $2.3 billiondollars for its development.

Mitha explained that this measure was beingtaken due to the recent scandal regardinghidden public debt. He said that when the scandalwas put to rest it would result in reduced risksand allow the company to obtain better results inthe market.

“We will return for funding when conditionsbecome more attractive,” he said, according toreports in the local press.

New NNPC BossPromises Refining IncreaseThe new boss at NNPC, Mallam Mele Kyari, onJuly 8 promised to run the four state-ownedrefineries at 100% capacity before PresidentMuhammadu Buhari's term ends in May 2023.Currently the country’s refineries run ataround 10% of their nameplate capacity,forcing the government to import more than 90%

of petroleum products consumed in the countryat times.

According to reports in Vanguard, the new officialpledged to make Nigeria a net exporter ofpetroleum products before that date. As a reminder,plans to stop petroleum product imports beforethe end of 2019 are technically already fallingbehind as the planned Dangote refinery is unlikelyto go into production this year.

Kyari also said that under his leadership, effortswill be made to promote and encourage public-private partnerships in the construction ofconventional and modular refineries.

Port Talks forEastern Libya May Bear FruitThe Guidry Group out of the US is close tofinalizing an agreement to develop a major portin Eastern Libya. Talks between the US firm andEastern Libyan authorities have been going onfor about one year. The port would be constructedin Susah.

“The Guidry Group and the State of Libya throughthe Sea Port Authority officially signed theconcession agreement on May 13 for thedevelopment of a multi-purpose, deep sea portin Susah, Libya,” the Guidry Group said in astatement to Reuters.

“Next steps for the project will involveestablishing all the technical, financial, operationaland commercial requirements,” the firm said.

Salah Elhasi, head of the eastern port authority,said no final deal had been signed yet but90% of work was done. “We are in the final stageof the agreement. ...and are reviewing theagreement’s details,” he said.

ENI and Tunisia SignAlgerian Gas Transport AgreementENI CEO, Claudio Descalzi and the TunisianMinister of Energy, Slim Feriani, signed a newagreement for transporting Algerian natural gasthrough Tunisia. The agreement was signed inthe presence of Tunisian Prime MinisterYoussef Chahed.

The agreement follows previous pacts reachedwith Sonatrach in May in relation to the purchaseof gas and transport in the Strait of Sicily (theTPMC system). It also completes the contractualframework that allows the Italian firm to importAlgerian gas into Italy.

With this agreement, ENI undertakes to operatethe pipeline for the next 10 years, through itssubsidiary Trans Tunisian Pipeline Company(TTPC), ensuring necessary reinvestment formodernizing infrastructure and taking advantageof the exclusive rights to the entire transportcapacity.

Fire Breaks Outat Sonatrach Processing UnitIn Algeria, a fire at state-run firm Sonatrach’sGNL1Z gas production unit broke out. Thefire was followed by many explosions,according to reports from a local televisionstation.The facility is located in the Algerian cityof Oran.

Two people were injured in the fire, Sonatrachsaid in a statement, but no casualties were reported.The company also said that the fire would haveno impact on production.

Nigeria Awards DSDP’sIn Nigeria no fewer than 14 local, regional andinternational oil companies that bid for the2019 Direct Sale of Crude Oil and DirectPurchase (DSDP) contracts have emergedsuccessful, according to an article in thePremium Times.

Although many of the companies applied asindividuals, sources at NNPC said many of theeventual winners formed consortiums with otherapplicants to emerge successful.

McDermott WinsPre-FEED in ArgentinaMcDermott International was awarded a contractby Argentina-based YPF to provide pre-FEEDservices for a 5 mtpa LNG facility, with thepotential expansion to 10 mtpa, at the Vaca MuertaShale field in Argentina.

The scope of work is a continuation of a previousconceptual study developed for the YPF LNGExport Facility in Argentina under a contract in2018. McDermott’s London office will provideengineering services while the Houston officewill perform project management andestimation services.

The project will promote the development of theVaca Muerta Shale field in the Neuquenregion of Argentina. Work on the project willbegin immediately, and the contract awardw i l l b e r e f l e c t e d i n M c D e r m o t t ` sQ2 2019 backlog.

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Approval Received for Abadi LNG PODInpex, through its subsidiary Inpex Masela,received official approval from the Indonesiangovernment on its revised Plan of Development(POD) for the Abadi LNG Project submitted onJune 20. The FID is subject to a series ofsubsequent evaluations including FEED work.

In addition to the revised POD, the authoritiesalso approved the application for a seven-yearadditional time allocation and a 20-year extensionto the PSC for the Masela Block, extending theterm of the PSC until 2055.

“The approval of the revised POD by theauthorities is a significant milestone for the AbadiLNG Project. While the project’s developmentconcept has been changed from a floating LNGscheme to an onshore LNG scheme, I amconfident that the economics of the Projectbased on the revised POD are now sufficiently

strong for Inpex and Shell given the PSC termuntil 2055 and sufficient financial conditionshave been secured following a series ofconstructive discussions with the authorities.Inpex aims to make this project competitive andwill continue to work toward the productionstartup scheduled in the latter half of the 2020s,”said Takayuki Ueda, President & CEO ofthe company.

Moving forward, the company will continue towork closely with Shell to begin the necessarypreparations to commence FEED. Preparationswill mainly consist of the mobilization ofoperational personnel and bidding-related workfor the selection of contractors undertakingFEED work.

The project is the first large-scale integrated LNGdevelopment project operated by Inpex inIndonesia and follows on from the Inpex-operated

Ichthys LNG project in Australia. The Abadi gasfield features excellent reservoir productivity andhas one of the world’s largest resources, raisingexpectations of efficient development and stableLNG production operations over the long-term.

The project will provide significant contributionsto Indonesia and bring multiplier effects toIndonesia particularly in the eastern region.

INPEX Receives Approval of Revised Planof Development

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NEW PRODUCTS & SERVICES

GM Flow Measurement Services Ltd, hasdeveloped smart, disruptive technology whichcould see it become a global market leaderin flow measurement. The start-up business,whose products have secured the support ofScottish Enterprise, is now gearing up forrapid growth after completion of successfulfield tests.

Their technology is based around twometering products which are safer, morerobust and more accurate than others on themarket. The meters have a smaller footprint,so they can save on space on the well site aswell as eliminating the need for manualintervention and costly productionshut-downs.

Meeting industry demand for a bespoke gasflow measurement tool, GM Flow haslaunched Adjusta-Cone® - the world’s firstautomatic and fully adjustable, differentialpressure cone meter for natural gas. Havingrecently completed successful field trials inthe North Sea and the Middle East, the deviceis a safer, more accurate and cost-effectivealternative to conventional dual chamberorifice plate fittings for flow measurement.

For well services, GM Flow can also resolvethe common problems associated withmeasuring high pressure nitrogen gas flowduring well testing, coiled tubing milling andgas lift operations with Integra-Cone™. Thedevice is specifically designed and developedas a high-pressure nitrogen flow meter.

Established in 2014, GM Flow has beendeveloping a range of smart, safe and reliableflow measurement services and products to

support production, exploration, and wellservices operations.

Gavin Munro, managing director ofGM Flow Services Ltd, said: “We’ve spentthe last four years developing and testingour products and are confident we have anintelligent but simple solution to thechallenges in getting accurate flowdata and then using the analysis moreeffectively.

“We are aiming to become the industry’snew standard in gas flow measurementmetering and, as a result, grow the companysignificantly in the UK and overseas. Ourexpert team helps customers to fullyunderstand and manage their flowmeasurement requirements; whether it be forfixed or portable well testing separator,

custody transfer, gas-lift, fuel gas or high-pressure gas re-injection. Our new range oftechnology can overcome field operationalconstraints and functional concerns withconventional devices and equipment.”

From robust test and production separatorapplications to intelligent flow meters toaccurately analyze gas and water injection,GM Flow designs, develops and deliversdisruptive technology and invaluableexpertise for both on and offshoredevelopments around the globe.

The firm also specializes in gas lift andgeneral oilfield liquid and gas pumping flowmeasurement applications. Its serviceportfolio includes design, provision,commissioning and testing of specific flowprojects, large and small.

New Technology toRevolutionize Offshore Flow Measurement Signals

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Eliminating the need for costly equipmentor hazardous manual handling, Coretrax, thewellbore clean-up and abandonmentspecialist, has seen the deployment of itsdrill pipe cleaning tool, the CX-Ball, bypassmore than 2,000 sales within five years,saving more than 11 days of rig-time costand risk.

Based on an average time savings of eightminutes per ball, this in total has saved 278hours of rig-time, equivalent to 11.58 dayssince the product was launched in 2014. Inone North Sea campaign, it has been usedconsistently for the last 74 well abandonmentssaving 57.6 hours of rig time alone.

“The CX-Ball essentially embodies theconcept of marginal gains,” said John Fraser,global business development director withCoretrax. “The simplicity of the tool allows

easy and quick deployment and reduced timein the ‘red zone’. While this doesn’t initiallysuggest big time savings, over multipleapplications in a campaign, significantfinancial, safety and rig-time savings can beachieved.”

After a cement job, foamwiper balls are usedt o a v o i dp o t e n t i a lr e s i d u a lc e m e n t ,f luids ordebris, fromset t ing and building upon the internal diameter (ID) of the pipe.However, competently loading the large foamballs into the restrictive tool joint ischallenging and can involve the use ofexpensive equipment and the safety risks

a s s o c i a t e d w i t hmanual handling andmachinery.

Unlike otherproducts on the

market, the CX-Ball isencased in a soluble

material which temporarilyrestricts the shape of the ball. This allows

it to be easily and accurately deployed by alaunch tube directly into the drill pipe. Whenthe CX-Ball comes into contact with water,the ball expands and returns to its originalshape. The high parting stretch ratio of thefoam ball allows it to pass through smallrestrictions undamaged as it is pumpeddownhole.

Coretrax Drill Pipe Cleaning Ball Wipes Away 11 daysof Rig-Time Cost and Risk

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Honeywell recently unveiled Experion® PKSHighly Integrated Virtual Environment(HIVE), a fundamentally new approach toengineering and maintaining industrial controlsystems. This is an evolution of thecompany’s flagship Experion ProcessKnowledge System (PKS).

Experion PKS HIVE uses Honeywell’sLEAP™ project execution principles,software and networking to unchain controlapplications from physical equipment, andcontrollers from physical IO. This enablescontrol systems to be engineered andimplemented in less time, at lower cost andrisk, and with simpler, modular builds. Thesolution also transforms the way controlsystems are maintained over their lifecycle,shifting day-to-day management of serversto a centralized data center, where expertsand established protocols mitigatecybersecurity risk, allowing plant engineersto focus more proactively on optimizationof their control systems.

“ARC market research shows that solutionslike Honeywell Experion PKS HIVE addresskey issues for customers around project riskand ultimately project cost,” said Mark SenGupta, research director, ARC AdvisoryGroup.”A more fascinating aspect is thegreater flexibility in control architecturedesign and implementation allowing for amore optimal use of physical and computingcontrol system assets.”

Experion PKS HIVE incorporates threeelements – IT HIVE, IO HIVE and ControlHIVE – which can be used individually orcollectively, in tandem with customers’existing systems and infrastructure:

Experion PKS IT HIVE centralizes upto 80% of the IT infrastructure traditionallyused in project engineering to lower projectdelivery and lifecycle costs, better leverageskills, and drive consistent physical andcybersecurity management across anenterprise.

Experion PKS IO HIVE provides flexibleIO and control distribution enabling thecontrol system to become a natural extensionof process equipment and to facilitatemodular and parallel project execution.

Experion PKS Control HIVE uniquelyapplies control containers to provideflexibility and standardization of controlhardware platform, control location, andcontrol engineering. With multiple physicalcontrollers operating as part of the ExperionPKS Control HIVE, control engineering isdramatically simplified through automatedload balancing.

“In developing Experion PKS HIVE,Honeywell worked closely with customersacross the chemical, refining and oil and gasindustries,” said Jason Urso, chief technologyofficer, Honeywell Process Solutions. “Manyof these organizations want a more efficientapproach to control system engineering, yetone that can be adopted incrementally andused interchangeably with their existing

Honeywell Unveils New Approachto Engineering Industrial Control System


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Formation Evaluation Software Release BoostsUnderstanding of Reservoir Conditions

Emerson announced the release of Geolog™

19, the latest version of its formationevaluation software suite. This releaseincludes new display formats that enhancecollaboration between subsurface specialists.This includes representation of zonal data ascrossplot and histogram tracks so thatgeoscientists can better understand therelationships between rock formationpressures, stresses, and mud weights, forexample.

The release also enhances its dataconnectivity and “openness” features withdirect streaming of wellsite informationtransfer standard markup language(WITSML) data into Geolog’s geosteeringapplication, expanded connectivity to third-party applications, and the integration ofPython scripts for enhanced customizationwith no separate installation.

Additional innovations include:Streamlined processing and interpretation

workflows for acoustic waveform data.A new mud gas analysis module provides

key information about hydrocarbons in drilledformations and allows safer drilling throughearly detection of gas kicks and lostcirculation.

The ability to translate equations fromGeo log i n to t he Roxa r™ RMSgeoscience and reservoir engineering

c o l l a b o r a t i o n p l a t f o r m a n dSKUA-GOCAD™ modeling solution,as well as the Python, Petrel andExcel formats.

“Although Geolog has been the recognizedleader in the petrophysical analysis/formationevaluation market for many years, we arenot resting on our laurels, and are constantlystriving to further improve the product toenhance our customers’ bottom line,” saidSomesh Singh, chief product officer,exploration and production software business,Emerson Automation Solutions. “Geolog’sclose links with other applications andplatforms are part of our overall strategy of

collaboration and openness, to help our userswork more efficiently and productively.”

Emerson’s exploration and productionsoftware portfolio and cloud-based platformintegrate and forecast oilfield data withproduction and reservoir engineeringfundamentals. They are designed to helpoperators increase efficiencies andachieve Top Quartile performance oninvestment and operational goals withinnew and established oil and gas reservoirs.Top Quartile performance is defined asachieving operat ions and capi ta lperformance in the top 25 percent ofpeer companies.

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systems and infrastructure. Experion PKSHIVE provides these benefits and is truly adistributed control as it applies andgeographically distributes technology towhere it is needed.” Experion PKS HIVEshifts IO to the field and makes it fully

accessible to any controller, takingindividual physical controllers anddistributing the load so that they appear asa s ingle cont ro l le r to e l iminatecomplexity. The solution distributesIT compute from onsite to offsite

providing a seamless operations experience.The Experion PKS IT HIVE and IO HIVEcan be ordered now, with deliveriesbeginning Q1 2020. Experion PKS ControlHIVE will be available in the second halfof 2020.




Borealis Launches New Plastics Recycling Technology

Borealis, a leading provider of innovativesolutions in the fields of polyolefins, basechemicals and fertilizers, announced theintroduction of a new plastics recyclingtechnology, Borcycle™. This evolvingtechnology will be used to produce high-qualitycompounds made of recycled polyolefins(rPO) such as the newly-launched Borcycle™MF1981SY, an rPO with over 80% recycledcontent intended for use in visibleappliance parts.

Borealis also announced a series of significantmaterial improvements to existing recyclatesin the established Purpolen™ brand portfolio.These market launches and productimprovements are important technologyadvancements and thus accelerate thetransformation to a circular economy ofplastics. Borealis and its wholly-ownedsubsidiary, mtm plastics, will showcase thenew Borcycle technology and recyclateinnovations at the K 2019 in October.

Borealis is leading the industry by applyingits Visioneering Philosophy™ to thedevelopment and implementation of novelpolyolefins-based solutions that enable plasticsreuse, recycling, and recovery, and by designingfor circularity. These wide-ranging activitiesare gathered under the symbolic roof ofEverMinds™, the Borealis platform dedicatedto promoting a more circular mind-set in theindustry. By capitalizing on its profoundexpertise in virgin polyolefins and collaboratingwith value chain partners, Borealis keepsdiscovering new opportunities for businessgrowth within the circular economy.

Advancing technology to bringabout polyolefin circularityThe new technology, Borcycle, transformspolyolefin-based waste streams intorecyclate material such as pellets. As atransformative technology, it complements theexisting Borealis virgin polyolefins portfoliowith a range of pioneering, circular solutions.It unites state-of-the-art technology with theprofound Borealis polymer expertise gainedover decades.

As a scalable and modular technology,Borcycle has been developed to meet growing

market demand for high-qualityrecyclate. Leading appliance brandowners, for one, have pledged toincrease the amount of recycled plasticsin their goods. Yet until recently,producers have not been able to relyon a consistent supply of high-qualityrecyclate. The Borcycle technology willhelp address this challenge. Compoundsmade using the Borcycle technologydeliver high performance, add valueand offer versatility. Producers andbrand owners in a range of industries willprofit from the availability of high-qualityrecyclate that helps them meet environmentaland regulatory challenges.

“Advancing technology is crucial if our aimis to implement value-creating solutions in thecircular sphere,” claims Maurits van Tol,Borealis Senior Vice President, Innovation,Technology & Circular Economy Solutions.“‘Building tomorrow together’ meansinnovating, collaborating, focusing on thecustomer, and above all taking action. Thelaunch of our new recycling technologyBorcycle is tangible proof of our commitmentto achieving plastics circularity.”

New and improved recyclate forhigh-end applicationsBorcycle MF1981SY is the first of severalupcoming launches of rPO solutions madeunder the umbrella of the Borcycle technology.Borcycle MF1981SY will be available toBorealis customers in Europe. The compoundis an exciting addition to the rPO portfoliobecause it is a 10% talc-filled compound thatcontains over 80% recycled material. It offersan ideal balance between stiffness and impact.The compound is especially suited for use invisible black parts, for example in smallappliances.

Like its relatives in the mtm plastics family ofrecyclate materials, Borcycle MF1981SY is atruly sustainable offering. Recyclates frommtm save approximately 30% of CO2emissions compared to virgin materials.

A number of significant improvements havebeen made to existing recyclate grades in thePurpolen portfolio.

Purpolen® PP Y40A recycled polypropylene (PP) with higher

and improved flowabilityMelt flow index now improved to 40g/10min

for the injection moulding of thin-walled parts,and long flow paths

Target applications: pails, thin-wallpackaging, appliance parts and more

Purpolen® PE FFA fine-filtered (FF) polyethylene (PE)

regranulateImproved gel level via extrusion setup:

- Modified screw by means of integratedmixing element

- Finer melt filtration- Higher quality is now more comparable to

competing conventional grades; is suitablefor general purpose applications

Purpolen® PE Y01A 100%-PCR grade with low melt flow rate

(MFR); for extrusion processes for pipes orlarger bottles.

In extrusion processes, lower MFR andlower gel content are prerequisites for theproduction of bottles and pipes (among otherproducts), offering improved aesthetics, bettersurface finish and processing stability.

“Mechanical recycling is presently a most eco-efficient method to implement the principlesof the circular economy,” explains GuenterStephan, Head of Mechanical Recycling,Borealis Circular Economy Solutions.“Borealis and mtm plastics are leveraging theirrespective areas of expertise to make significantprogress in achieving polyolefin circularity byupscaling recycling output and ensuring thereliable supply of high-quality plastics recyclatefor European producers, in particular.”

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or decades the main concern of both oil companies and HostNations was to discover hydrocarbon reserves and monetizethem as quickly as possible, so as to generate value for

shareholders on the one hand, and State revenue on the other. As morefields were discovered and brought on stream, new technology developedto allow for secondary and tertiary recovery, and then with smallercompanies taking over mature fields, decommissioning and abandonmentof depleted oilfields was far from most players’ minds. This state ofaffairs has, however, come to a swift end, as all over the world bothcompanies and States are beginning to struggle with the environmentaland economic legacy of fields that were first developed at a time whenthe environment was far from the priority that it has become inrecent years.

Everywhere from the North Sea to West Africa, to faraway South EastAsia and Australia, companies and regulators are coming to terms withthe amount of work to be done in the near future to decommissiondepleted fields, and the financing, technical and regulatory challengesto do so. This latter point is critical especially in relation to smallcompanies that have taken over operations towards the end of field lifefrom larger IOCs, and that have a much weaker financial position andtechnical capacity.

The state of the play in AngolaThe same situation briefly mentioned above can also be found inAngola, where mature fields have over the years been taken over andredeveloped by smaller players and/or Sonangol. Environmental

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When the Time Comes…When the Time Comes…

By Ricardo SilvaPartner and Co-Head, Energy and Natural Resources PracticeMiranda Alliance

Brief considerations on the new Angolan abandonment and decommissioning frameworkBrief considerations on the new Angolan abandonment and decommissioning framework


concerns have already arisen in respect of some ofthese fields, where the structural integrity of certainfacilities has recently been questioned by the regulators.Additionally, some of the larger companies have alsocome to the point where they are starting to plan fordecommissioning of older facilities and plugging andabandoning depleted wells and require certainty interms of technical rules and decommissioning-relatedfinancial aspects.

Up until recently the Angolan Petroleum legalframework was mostly silent on decommissioningand abandonment, and not 100% clear on otherenvironmental issues.

In terms of decommissioning and abandonment, Article75 of the Petroleum Activities Law required Sonangoland the contractor group to jointly submit anabandonment plan and carry out the activities requiredto abandon wells and decommission facilities inaccordance with the law and good oilfield practice. However, the lawdid not further regulate these issues, and “good oilfield practice,” beinga great catch-all term, often raises significant interpretative complexities.For instance, probably the area of the world where decommissioninghas been most developed in the past is the North Sea; but does it makesense for the North Sea standards to be applied in West Africa, wherethe habitats, operational environment and oil producing facilities aredifferent to those in the north of Europe?

On the other hand, in terms of environmental claims, while it appearedclear that IOCs would be responsible generally for damages arisingout of petroleum activity-related claims under a presumption of faultregime contained in the petroleum legislation, the environmentallegislation applied a strict liability framework to any environmentaldamages irrespective of how they were caused. In turn the allocationof liability between the IOCs and the then national concessionaire,Sonangol, E.P. would have to be assessed under the respective petroleumcontract. Most contracts also stated that IOCs would be liable towardsthe State and Sonangol for any damages they caused to them. To addanother layer of complexity, over the years there have been differentpetroleum contract “generations” in Angola and, although they mostlyfollow a common root, there are variations from contract generationto contract generation.

Some of the biggest issues that companies have struggled with includehow to treat residual liability, what provisions exactly are applicableto abandonment, how will the decommissioning accounts establishedunder certain PSCs be operationalized and used, and what happens todecommissioning liabilities in case of takeover of facilities and operationsby the NOC?

New decommissioning regulationsIn 2018, the restructuring of the Angolan oil sector to make it moreattractive to investors was the perfect opportunity to also address theabove identified issues, notably through the enactment of PresidentialDecree 91/18, of 10 April 2018.

This statute establishes the “rules and procedures forabandonment of wells and decommissioning of oil& gas facilities in national territory,” setting forth aregulatory framework that is mandatory for allcompanies carrying out petroleum operations in Angolaand applies as of 1 January 2019. In practice, thismeans that the Angolan government seeks to applyall provisions of Presidential Decree 91/18 to existingpetroleum concessions, therefore supersedingcontractual provisions which are not aligned with thenew rules.

The first notable issue that the new regulations addressis the requirement of all contractor groups to constituteabandonment funds by depositing the relevant fundsinto an escrow account that will be mobilized to payfor decommissioning at the end of field life. Theprovision of the abandonment fund shall commenceat different times depending on whether or not we

are dealing with new concessions, new developmentareas, or development areas and concessions existing prior to theeffective date of the new statute. The fund shall serve the purpose ofsecuring and holding the contractor group members liable for fundingof the amount necessary for well abandonment and facilities’decommissioning.

In turn, the value of the abandonment fund shall be determined inaccordance with an estimate of final decommissioning and abandonmentcosts. For this purpose, the provisional abandonment plan shall containa forecast of the funds needed for its implementation, including adetailed cost breakdown for well abandonment and decommissioningof facilities. This forecast shall be updated regularly, prior to beingfinalized in the definitive abandonment plan to be submitted prior tocommencement of decommissioning and abandonment operations.From a technical standpoint, the Presidential Decree establishes rigorous,objective, but at the same time flexible rules and procedures whichensure that wells and oil and gas facilities are abandoned anddecommissioned without economic and social constraints. Learningfrom past experience and ongoing regulatory discussions in other oilproducing regions, it foresees the definitive decommissioning offacilities and plugging and abandonment of wells with a view to ensuringtheir integrity, and safeguarding the safety of local communities in theareas where petroleum operations were previously conducted, notablyin terms of navigation, fishing, movement of persons and other activities.

The statute also seeks to encourage the development and use of newtechnologies for well abandonment and decommissioning of facilities,provided they are aligned with environmental conservation principles,cost reduction objectives, and in compliance with international oilfieldindustry rules and practices. To harmonize the approach todecommissioning and abandonment (and thus hopefully streamliningreview and approvals) the definitive decommissioning plan shall followthe procedures and model form included as an Annex to the presidentialdecree, which allows for the proposals to include the total or partialdecommissioning facilities, if so justifiable and aligned with theoverarching principles of the statute.

The first notable issuethat the new regulations

addresses is therequirement of all

contractor groups toconstitute abandonmentfunds by depositing therelevant funds into an

escrow account that willbe mobilized to pay fordecommissioning at the

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Finally, the new regulations also include rules for situations where theoperations and facilities are transferred to a different entity, and alsofor handover of facilities and operations.

If the contractor group members are replaced by new members, thenew entities shall be responsible for the abandonment anddecommissioning of wells and facilities. For such purpose the statuteincludes clear rules on the handover of facilities, inspection and audit,establishing, notably, that an inspection be carried out to ensure thatdecommissioning and abandonment has been performed in compliancewith the approved plan, following which the regulator shall issue acertificate of completion of the works and release of liability accordingto a form attached as an annex to the statute. Additionally, there arerequirements for continued monitoring after conclusion of the works.

In this situation of take over of operations and facilities, which is oneof the most complex issues that, for instance, the UK and Australia arecurrently being faced with, the new Angolan regulations establish thatthe new contractor group entities shall be responsible for funding theabandonment costs, clarifying that if the funds are insufficient to coverthe costs the liability for providing additional funds lies with thecontractor group members, if such costs can be recovered, in accordancewith their respective participating interests, and the Angolan authoritiesshall be released from all such liability. If the costs cannot be recovered,the contractor group entities shall be required to agree with the authoritieson the recovery or deductibility of such additional costs.

What does the future hold?The new Angolan decommissioning and abandonment framework isa significant improvement, bringing added certainty and clearer rulesin an area that has become critical in recent years, while previouslybeing devoid of adequate provisions, mechanisms and procedures. Thishas been welcomed by the industry as the existence of a clear regimecovering abandonment and decommissioning operations has been oneof the major demands of the IOCs in recent years, mainly due to theproliferation of maturing fields in Angola.

This said, there are a number of matters that the regulations do notcover, and that will need to be addressed sooner or later. One such areais how to deal with integrated upstream, midstream and downstreamprojects, since the new rules only apply to onshore and offshore upstreamoperations. Decommissioning and abandonment is a complex area,where technical, commercial and legal aspects need to be consideredtogether, and where solutions are often driven by new engineeringdevelopments. Only the future will tell if the new regulations approvedby Angola indeed have the necessary clarity and flexibility to allowthe country’s depleted fields to be definitively shut down in a mannerthat is satisfactory to all stakeholders.

* Ricardo Alves Silva is a Partner and Co-Head of Miranda’s Energy andNatural Resources Practice and is involved in advising oil and gas companies,Host Nations and regulators in their operations in Africa and Asia. Ricardomay be contacted at [email protected].


arlier this year, Uganda’s Ministry ofEnergy and Mineral Development issueda Request for Qualification (RFQ)

inviting interested firms and/or consortia to submitStatements of Qualifications within a period ofnot less than three months for government todetermine their eligibility to participate in thislicensing round. The submission deadline wasrecently extended until November 20, allowingadditional review time for interested parties

The blocks on offer in Uganda’s secondcompetitive bid round are nearby some of thecountry’s major oil blocks that are currently heldby Tullow, Total E&P and CNOOC Uganda Ltd.So far, an estimated 6.5 billion barrels of oil inplace and 500 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of naturalgas has been confirmed from exploration workundertaken in less than 40% of the AlbertineGraben, leaving much prospectivity for newexploration.

The BlocksFor the second licensing round (the first was heldin 2016), five blocks will be on offer, all highlyprospective exploration areas with good datacoverage available. Highlights on each of theblocks are summarized below:

Turaco Coucal Block (Semliki Area): 2D and3D seismic surveys were undertaken in theSemliki Basin and three exploration wells weredrilled on the Turaco prospect in approximatelythe same geographical position (between 1998and 2004). All the three wells encountered oil,but the Turaco-3 well was specifically used totest the oil zones. Various reports and datasetsare available for this 635-sq km block.

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OPPORTUNITY UGANDAOPPORTUNITY UGANDAUganda has announced that it will be hosting its second competitive licensing round. The blocks on offer, located in the prolific

Albertine Graben, sit next to some of the country’s largest oil finds.


Riwu Omuka Block: This 750 sq km block is located in the formerExploration Area 1 in the districts of Buliisa, Packwach, Nwoya andNebbi. 2D seismic surveys were undertaken and three wells were drilledin this area (Riwu-1, Ondyek-1, and Raa-1) which did not encounterany oil. This block is located in proximity of the Buliisa oil fields whichhave been issued production licenses. It is also in proximity to theBuliisa Central Processing Facility. Additional reports and data are alsoavailable for this block.

Kasuruban Mutonta Block: Located in the districts of Hoima,Buliisa and Masindi, the block has seen three wells drilled. The Taitai-1, Karuka-1 and Karuka-2 were drilled on the Taitai and Karukaprospects during 2007. None of the three wells encounteredhydrocarbons. 2D seismic data, as well as additional reports are available.The block is in close proximity to the Buliisa and Kaiso-Tonya oilfields and production infrastructure. The size of the block isapproximately 1,285 sq km.

Ngaji Mpundu Block: The block is located in the districts ofRukugiri, Kanungu and Kasese. The Ngaji-1 well was drilled during2009 and did not encounter any hydrocarbons. The prospect is heavilyfaulted and compartmentalized. However, an optimal location withina good migration passage was not drilled which may explain thefailure to encounter hydrocarbons. Based on the 2D seismic and theaerogravity data that was acquired, there are other drillable locationsin this area. The areas also have various reports available and the blocksize is approximately 895 sq km.

Mvule Avivi Block (Rhino Camp Area): Located in the districts ofMadi-Okollo, Adjumani, Obongi and Yumbe, it has about 200 km ofhigh quality 2D seismic data and an Airborne Tensor Gradiometry wasalso acquired over the Block. Three exploration wells (Mvule-1, Iti-1and Avivi-1 were drilled but did not encounter any hydrocarbons. Basedon the 2D seismic data, the resource accounting of the hydrocarbonsin place in the entire Block indicates highly risked recoverable reserves.Various reports are available and the license area is approximately1,026 sq km.

Some of the additional reports mentioned and available for the variousblocks include geochemical and palynological reports, field mappingreports, borehole seismic reports, geological end of well reports,mudlogging reports, well completion reports, among others.

Award ProcessOnce government has evaluated the submissions under the RFQ, thequalifying firms will then be issued a detailed request for bids whichwill be evaluated by the Government. The companies submitting the

best evaluated bids for each of the blocks will proceed to negotiationswith Government prior to signing production sharing agreements. Thelicensing round is expected to be concluded with the award of PetroleumExploration Licenses to successful firms.

The award of licenses will be guided by the Petroleum (Exploration,Development and Production) Act 2013 and the National Oil and GasPolicy for Uganda (2008). It follows the first license round which wasconducted in 2016 and resulted in the award of three licenses; twolicenses (Ngassa shallow play and Ngassa Deep play) were awardedto Oranto Petroleum Ltd. and one license (Kanywataba block) wasawarded to Armour Energy Ltd.

Details on the licensing round are scheduled to be presented atupcoming conferences, including Africa Oil & Power being held inCape Town during October, as well as at Africa Oil Week in November,also in Cape Town. Roadshows have been scheduled for Dubai(September 11), London (October 14), and Houston (October 17), forinvestors to learn more. Alternately, more information on thesecond licensing round can be found at www.petroleum.go.ug or bycontacting The Commissioner’s office at [email protected] [email protected].

The five blocks are available to potential applicants after goingthrough the prequalification stage successfully. Entry into theprequalification stage is subject to prior payment of a non-refundableapplication fee of $20,000. Upon the payment, the RfQ document canthen be taken at the Petroleum Exploration, Development and ProductionDepartment in Entebbe or delivered through an email by the Manager,Second Licensing Round. The payment of the Application fee shall bemade to the following bank account:

Account Name:Uganda Petroleum FundBank Name: Bank of UgandaAccount Title: Uganda Petroleum Fund – USDAccount No: 003300328400010Swift Code: UGBAUGKA

Sealed applications for qualifications must be delivered to theaddress below at or before September 20, 2019 at 10:00 am localtime to:

The Permanent Secretary,Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development


he move from analog to digital technology has happenedgradually rather than suddenly in the seismic industry, withthe first digital seismic sensors based on microelectromechanical

systems (MEMS) accelerometers launched almost 20 years ago. Sincethen, these small and highly-accurate devices have undergone continuedtechnological development, to the point where they now offer severaldistinct performances advantages compared to traditional geophones.Here we outline five key drivers behind the migration from analog todigital technology.

MEMS delivers digital fidelityWhile the response of geophones is damped below their naturalfrequency and distorted above their spurious frequency, MEMS sensorsoffer linear and flat amplitude and phase responses from DC to 800Hz in the acceleration domain. Their specifications are not affected bytemperature, aging or manufacturing tolerances, making the signalrecorded accurate in both phase and amplitude on the entire seismicbandwidth of interest. The preservation of amplitudes has beenrecognized for amplitude versus offset applications. The coil-free designmakes the sensor insensitive to electromagnetic noise, and thesensor distortion is much lower than that of geophones. This digitalfidelity is viewed as a significant benefit for high trace density, singlereceiver surveys.

Low noise floor and low-frequency performanceMuch progress has been made in lowering the noise floor of MEMSsensors, improving the detection of low frequencies and weak signalssuch as those that come from faraway targets or from micro-seismicevents. The latest devices have been developed to reach a targetspecification of 15ng Hz through a variety of techniques linked tomitigation of all internal electronic and mechanical noise sourceswithout any increase in power consumption.

These days, MEMS sensors achieve a significantly lower noise floorthan previously available designs, achieving -10dB and thus a higherdynamic range in the region of +10 dB, providing ideal conditions torecord low frequencies down to 1Hz. Also, recent research shows it is

possible to develop MEMS accelerometers with a noise floor belowNew High Noise Model down to 0.1Hz and showing only a slightincrease down to 0.001Hz, opening up new possibilities for belowhertz signal recording.

3C recording and vector fidelity3C acquisition has a proven track record of success in complex geologies.From an operational perspective, the 3C MEMS channel is omni-tiltand compact, and removes potential errors when connecting geophonesto three digitizers. The same sensor can be used for the three components,while geophones must be compensated for gravity when operatedhorizontally. The MEMS’ tiny size allows for a correspondingly small

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TECHNOLOGY AND SOLUTIONS

Moving Over to MEMSMoving Over to MEMS FIVE BENEFITS OF DIGITAL SEISMIC DATA ACQUISITION

By Nicolas Tellier, Chief GeophysicistSercel

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lMEMS-based digital seismic sensors

housing form-factor, thus enabling an efficient rejection of parasiticsignals, such as ground-roll induced rotations. The compactness of the3C sensor also favors optimal coupling to the ground – a paramountfactor for the proper recording of horizontal components.Another significant benefit of 3C MEMS lies in the excellent vectorfidelity it provides to seismic measurements. Indeed, good MEMSaccelerometers are fitted with a feedback loop that enables themeasurement of static signals, such as the Earth’s gravity. Thanks tothis feature, 3C MEMS sensors can be easily factory-calibrated byusing a very accurate gravitational acceleration reference, andconsequently, the manufacturing orthogonality tolerances of the threeaxes can be compensated for.

Operational benefits result in savingsHistorically, it has always been considered that a configuration ofMEMS-based digital sensor units is more expensive than a fielddigitizing unit connected to a string of geophones, mainly due to thehigher density required. However, over time, the seismic industry hasstarted to take a more holistic approach to the cost of seismic sensors,with greater recognition of the difference between capital expenditurefor equipment and operational expenditure.

The smaller physical size of MEMS-based sensors provides manyoperational benefits. For geophone strings, a lot of effort is required

to transport, deploy, retrieve, maintain and repair large quantities ofequipment – in addition to the staff needed for these tasks and thesubsequent logistics such as accommodation, catering, laundry,transportation etc. The use of MEMS-based digital sensor units, on theother hand, provides savings in each of these areas.

Lower power and lower costsThe steady growth in popularity of MEMS-based devices has alsodelivered manufacturing economies of scale, which has in turn drivendown the price. Also, a single sensor’s power consumption has beenreduced to 85mW, which is providing costs benefits for large-scale,high-density deployments.

These benefits have seen MEMS-based sensors start to break downbarriers and achieve greater market acceptance. After almost 20 yearson the market, it is fair to say that digital sensors have proven theirtechnical and geophysical effectiveness for seismic applications, leadingto the introduction of recorders that have been fully optimized forseismic land operations.

For more information on the transition from analog to digitaltechnology, download the new white paper entitled Moving over toMEMS: Assessing the Analog to Digital trend in Seismic Data Acquisitionon www.sercel.com


H2S Detection While DrillingA New Approach

EOLOG presented a paper entitled “H2S detection whiledrilling: a new approach’’ at the 14th Offshore MediterraneanConference and Exhibition in Ravenna, Italy, March 27-29,

2019. The paper illustrates the potentialities of the alternativemethodology GEOLOG is proposing for H2S detection onsite, basedon core or cutting analysis.

Whether it is oil or gas bearing, conventional or unconventional, whena field contains H2S above a certain value it is qualified as sour. Eventhough it presents several difficulties, the development of sour (richin H2S and CO2) oil and gas fields is quickly emerging as a majorindustrial and technological theme. Such interest for sour resourcesarose because of two main factors: first, the diminishing accessibilityof easy-to-produce conventional oil and gas makes attractive also thedevelopment of high H2S fields; second, there has been an increase ofoperations in areas traditionally rich in sour resources like Russia andthe Middle East (Figure 1).

H2S detection, together with the identification of formations and wellintervals bearing it, is therefore crucial for oil companies since it heavilyimpacts completion strategies and field development. For many years,inorganic scavengers were used and through mud acidification it waspossible to release H2S and to get an evaluation of its concentration.Nowadays, the use of organic scavengers which bound irreversibly toH2S, makes impossible its detection and hinders all the informationregarding well sourness.

In this paper, GEOLOG have presented a novel methodology whichaims at overcoming this problem by core/cutting analyses. Methodologydevelopment started from the hypothesis that part of the formation gasis still preserved in cutting pores. Experimental evidences, collectedin the last few decades, show that gas (hydrocarbons and contaminantgases, including H2S) is mostly released by the rocks while drillinginto mud (so-called mud gas); nevertheless, some further gas can bereleased by cuttings e.g. in sealed vials (so-called head space gas) and,finally, a last portion is still preserved in cuttings. Our experimentalapproach implies the analysis of this last portion, also called interstitialor residual gas, that can be recovered by grinding the cuttings in asealed mill, gas recovery from the gastight chamber and its analysisby GC-TCD H2S detector (Figure 2).

It must be highlighted that the obtained H2S concentration value is notonly depending on its abundance but also on many other concurringfactors which are difficult to precisely evaluate and quantify, such asrock permeability, sample preservation and treatment and rock-gasinteractions. Therefore, the detected concentrations cannot be interpretedon a strict quantitative basis, but they still give us an important indicationof H2S presence and of its relative abundance.

In one of the first successful applications of these methodology, asandstone reservoir in South-West Africa has been subjected toinvestigation. The analyzed interval was comprehending 600 metersof the horizontal drain of the exploration well. Oil base mud was used

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TECHNOLOGY AND SOLUTIONSBy Luca Mascheroni, Gas and Geochemistry Specialist

Geolog Technologies

H2S Detection While DrillingA New Approach

Figure 1. Source: Eni, World Oil and Gas Review, 2016. Annual statisticreport on world reserves: crude production quality based on data from 2015

Figure 2: Sketch of interstitial gas operating procedure. 1) Dried cuttingsare placed in gas tight agate container; 2) Once mill to fine powder residual

gas is released and 3) Sampled through a gastight syringe or directlyconnected to a GC-TCD detector 4) where H2S is quantified.


as drilling fluid, without any addiction of H2S scavengers. At the timethe well was drilled, mud gas logging was employed, among its othertasks, in order to keep H2S abundancy monitored for safety reasons.Since the well spud, deployed electrochemical sensors registered a

signal oscillating from 0 to 1ppm, as first hint that H2S was potentiallypresent in the drilled formation. Later on, once finished drilling,downhole fluid analysis confirmed that the reservoir was producinggas with 1% (mol) of H2S. In order to test the applicability of themethodology described in this paper, the cuttings coming from thiswell were requested to be analysed, almost two years later since thewell was completed. Cuttings from 600 meters of the reservoir horizontaldrain were analysed for interstitial gas with a 20m frequency. Resultsare shown in Figure 3.

Hydrogen sulfide was detected below the dolomitized section in variableconcentration through all the reservoir. Being one of the very firstapplications of this methodology, H2S presence and abundancy wasconfirmed by repeating three times the measurement on the samecutting sample (its concentration is reported together with the associatedstandard deviation). The variability of the magnitude of H2S could bedue to different reasons, among which sample heterogeneity has beenidentified as the possible major contribution. Knowing that cuttingdimensions could influence the capability of the rock sample to storethe gas in its pores, it was found very interesting that the use of a PDCbit caused the analysed cuttings to be in the state of fine/mediumdisaggregated sandstone and yet H2S was still preserved inthese samples.

These results are the proof that the methodology can be not onlyapplied even on several years old cuttings, but also on very smallsize cutting samples, i.e.: PDC bits are not a limitation for thismethodology.

Other case histories were included in the paper in order support thepresented methodology and shed light about the potentialities of suchkinds of analyses. Although this methodology can be exploited at itsbest in combination with petrophysics analyses, it can still provideunique pieces of information about H2S distribution through drilledformations. In fact, the possibility to discriminate H2S abundancythough a reservoir in near real time could be used, for example, to helpin selection of kick off points for horizontal drains or when programmingthe well completion in the packers positioning.


Figure 3: Depth log of mud gas and Interstitial gas analyses of a sandstonereservoir section. Results are displayed vs total measured depth (TMD).1st col.: lithology; 2nd col.: total vertical depth (TVD); 3rd col.: rate of

penetration (ROP); 4th col.: mud gas hydrocarbon data, from methane (C1)to pentane (C5), with isomers; 5th col.: mud gas H2S from mud logging

sensors and interstitial H2S (with associated error bars).


Process Overviewatalytic reforming converts low-octane, straight-run naphthafractions, particularly heavy naphtha, into a high-octane, low-sulfur reformate, which is a major blending product for

gasoline/petrol. The process is endothermic and is carried out byfeeding a naphtha and hydrogen mixture to a furnace, where it is heatedin a series of fired heaters to the desired temperature, 450° to 520°C(840° to 965°F), before passing through a series of reactors.

Thermal InefficienciesIn a high temperature environment, steel alloy process tubes willimmediately oxidize, and scale will develop. This oxidation scale layeracts as an insulator and will lead to a decrease in heat transfer as thescale increases in thickness. To compensate for the insulating effect ofthe scale, the heater is subjected to excessive fuel firing. The resultingincreased temperate promotes the development of further scale. Asoxidation continues, tube metal is consumed leading to a decrease intube wall thickness, which shortens the tube life.

Ceramic CoatingsCeramic coatings for process tubes prevent oxidation and scale formationfor approximately two turnarounds. This thin-film coating maintainsthe process tube in a like-new condition, maximizing conductive heattransfer to the process and increasing radiant section efficiency. Likewise,by stopping oxidation, tube metal loss is prevented.

Coating Refractory LiningThe Emissivity of typical refractory linings in fired heaters ranges from0.45-0.65. When radiant energy encounters these refractory linings,

much of the energy is reflected back and is absorbed into the flue gasand carried out of the radiant section, into the convection section andout the stack, with the majority never reaching the process.

High emissivity coatings for refractory surfaces increase surfaceemissivity to 0.92, a near blackbody. Radiant energy is absorbed by

the high emissivity lining and reradiated across a broad spectrum. Thereradiated energy is able to penetrate the flue gas and be absorbed bythe process increasing radiant section efficiency.

Heater Evaluation at a RefineryA refinery reported that excessive process tube scale on their catalyticreformers was creating a limitation and contacted Cetek, the pre-eminent global turnkey provider of ceramic high-emissivity coatings,for an inspection and recommendation. Cetek visited the site to conductan infrared inspection of the heaters. After reviewing the infrared

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DOWNSTREAM FOCUS

Refinery Strikes Liquid Gold with Efficiency Increasesin Catalytic Reformer

By Integrated Global Services

Typical process tube condition Process tubes under IR illustration

Side-by-side comparison of process tubes with and without ceramic coating

Refractory coating

images and the data supplied by the refinery’s process engineer, Cetek’sfired heater expert recommended both high emissivity coatings forprocess tubes and refractory surfaces for all heater cells. The resultsof this evaluation are summarized in the chart below:

With the predicted fuel savings and capacity increase from the applicationof high emissivity ceramic coatings, a payback period and return oninvestment was calculated over the life of the coating. Keeping thesame production rate, the coating would produce over $2.9 million infuel savings; when keeping the same firing rate and increasingthroughput, over $10.5 million in additional profit could be realizedfrom the increase in production.

Post Application ReportAfter the coating was applied and the catalytic reformer was returnedto service, and conditions in the heaters were similar to the pre-

evaluation conditions, a fired heater study was completed to measurethe actual benefits of the ceramic coatings. The increase radiantefficiency of 10% was achieved.

Taking the cost of the project and the benefits into consideration, thepayback was 14 months in terms of fuel savings or four months forcapacity rate or process severity increase.


Benefit CategoryRadiant Section EfficiencyCO2 Emission ReductionNOx Emission Reduction

Benefit Percentage7.0%6,5%~10%

After the application of Cetek coatingBefore

Seas off West Africa World’s Worstfor Pirate Attacks

orldwide, the IMB Piracy Reporting Center (IMB PRC)recorded 78 incidents of piracy and armed robberyagainst ships in the first half of 2019, compared with 107

incidents for the same period of 2018. Overall, 57 vessels were boardedsuccessfully, representing 73% of all attacks. Pirates killed one person,took 38 crewmembers hostage, and kidnapped a further 37 for ransom.

Gulf of Guinea world piracy hotspotThe IMB report reveals 73% of all kidnappings at sea, and 92% ofhostage-takings, took place in the Gulf of Guinea. Armed pirates inthese high-risk waters kidnapped 27 crewmembers in the first half of2019, and 25 in the same period in 2018. Two chemical tankers werehijacked, as well as a tug that was then used in another attack. Of thenine vessels fired upon worldwide, eight were off the coast ofNigeria, Africa’s top oil producer. These attacks took place onaverage 65 nautical miles off the coast – meaning they are classifiedas acts of piracy.

But there are some encouraging signs of improvement. IMB PRCreports “a welcome and marked decrease” in attacks in the Gulf ofGuinea for the second quarter of 2019, commending the Nigerian navyfor actively responding to reported incidents by dispatching patrolboats. While recognizing that many attacks go unreported, IMB recorded21 incidents around Nigeria so far in 2019, down from 31 in the sameperiod of 2018.

Naval vessels from Equatorial Guinea and Spain also intervened inMay 2019 when a Nigerian tug was hijacked 41 nautical miles offLuba, Equatorial Guinea. Soon after, the pirates used the tug tolaunch an attack on a Maltese heavy load carrier. The crew retreatedinto the ship’s citadel, a safe room for protection against attackers.When the navies responded, the pirates left the vessel and the crewwere freed.

Warning to stay alertDespite the recent fall in Gulf of Guinea attacks, IMB is urging seafarersin the region to remain vigilant and report all suspicious activity toregional response centers and the IMB PRC. “Early detection of anapproaching suspicious craft is key to prevent boarding and give timeto raise the alarm and retreat into a citadel, if needed,” said an IMBspokesperson.

Meanwhile, in Malaysia, 10 crew were kidnapped from two fishingboats off eastern Sabah in June. Of these, nine crew are reported tohave been released. Around Indonesia, ongoing information-sharingcooperation between the Indonesian Marine Police and the IMB PRCcontinues to show positive results. The 11 incidents reported inIndonesian waters remains the lowest Q2 figure since 2009 when threeincidents were reported.

W

Local Impact

Seas off West Africa World’s Worstfor Pirate Attacks

By International Maritime Bureau

The seas around West Africa remain the world’s most dangerous for piracy, the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latestreport reveals. Of the 75 seafarers taken hostage onboard or kidnapped for ransom worldwide so far this year, 62 were captured

in the Gulf of Guinea – off the coasts of Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin and Cameroon.


Violent attacks in South AmericaA vessel was fired upon in the Guayas River after departing fromGuayaquil, Ecuador’s second largest city. This is the first time anincident involving the firing of weapons has been reported to the IMBPRC in Ecuador.

Elsewhere in South America, incidents of violent armed theft againstships at anchor have been reported in Callao in Peru, Jose Terminal inVenezuela and Macapa in Brazil. On May 2, 2019 when armedrobbers boarded a yacht in San Ignacio de Tupile, Panama, shootingand killing a family member and injuring another. The survivingfamily members including two children were rescued by PanamanianMarine Police.

Global anti-piracy supportSince 1991 the IMB PRC’s 24-hour manned center, has provided themaritime industry, governments and response agencies with timely and

transparent data on piracy and armed robbery incidents – receiveddirectly from the Master of the vessel or its owners.

The IMB PRC’s prompt forwarding of reports and liaison with responseagencies, its broadcasts to shipping via Global Maritime Distress andSafety System (GMDSS) Safety Net Services and email alerts toCompany Security Officers, all provided free of cost, has helped theresponse against piracy and armed robbery and the security of seafarers,globally.

IMB strongly urges all shipmasters and owners to report all actual,attempted and suspected piracy and armed robbery incidents to theIMB PRC globally. This first step in the response chain is vital toensuring that adequate resources are allocated by authorities totackle piracy. Transparent statistics from an independent,non-political, international organization can act as a catalyst to achievethis goal.


NIGERIAuhammadu Buhari has been the president of Nigeria sincewinning the election in March 2015. At the time it wasbig news as he was the first opposition candidate to do

so in Nigeria’s history. Buhari has been plagued by ill health for muchof the last two years and has left the running of the country to his vicepresident, Yemi Osinbajo. His absences have led to calls for areplacement, yet despite Buhari’s absenteeism and ill health, he wason the ballot in the February 23 elections this year. Not only was heon the ballot, but he won another term as president.

The elections had initially been scheduled for February 16; however,the country’s electoral commission postponed the vote by a week,citing logistical challenges in getting electoral materials to pollingstations on time. In some places, the vote was delayed until February24 due to electoral violence, while other areas polling was subsequentlydelayed until 9 March, when voting was carried out alongsidegubernatorial and state assembly elections.

Buhari defeated his closest rival Atiku Abubakar of the People’sDemocratic Movement (PDM) by over 3 million votes and was swornin on May 29. This does not mean that the vote was without controversy.A petition was filed by both the PDM and the Hope Democratic Party,challenging the re-election of President Buhari. The matter is beforea five-man tribunal currently.

On the economic front, given that the petroleum industry plays asignificant role in the country, this sometimes means, unfortunately,

that its economy, budget, etc. are tied to the price volatility that is theglobal crude market. According to a recent report by the WorldBank Group, “between 2006 and 2016, Nigeria’s gross domesticproduct (GDP) grew at an average rate of 5.7% per year, asvolatile oil prices drove growth to a high of 8% in 2006 and to a lowof -1.5% in 2016.”

The outlook has improved somewhat from 2016, emerging from arecession in 2017 with a growth rate of 0.8%, driven mainly by the oilsector, the report indicated. “Growth was higher in 2018 (at 1.9%) andmore broad-based; however, it still fell below the population growthrate, government projections and pre-recession levels. The oil and gassector reverted to contraction from the second quarter of the year andthe non-oil economy was thus the main driver of growth in 2018. Whileagriculture slowed down significantly due to conflict and weatherevents, non-oil, non-agricultural growth, which remained negative upto the third quarter of 2017 strengthened through 2018 – but remainedweak – with services (primarily information and communicationstechnology) resuming as the key driver.”

Economic growth is expected to hover just above 2% in 2019 and overthe medium term. The oil sector is likely to stagnate in the face ofregulatory uncertainty, limiting investments in the sector.Agriculture may remain affected by conflicts and climate and weatherevents; and the non-oil/non-agriculture sectors will likely continue tostruggle in the face of sluggish demand and constrained private sectorcredit growth.

M

By Jennifer Nickle, Deputy Editor

Afr i can Focus

Politics & Economy

President: Muhammadu Buhari(since May 2015)Independence: October 1, 1960(from UK)Population:203,452,505(July 2018 est.)GDP (purchasing power parity):$1.121 trillion (2017 est.)Real GDP Growth Rate: 0.8% (2017 est.)Per Capita GDP: $5,900 (2017 est.)Minister of Petroleum: Emmanuel Ibe KachikwuOil Production: 1.86 million bpd (2017 est.)Refined Oil Consumption:316,000 bpd (2016 est.)Proven Oil Reserves: 37.2 billion bbl (January 2016 est.)Natural Gas Production: 1.2 Tcf (2016 est.)Natural Gas Consumption: 191Bcf (2015 est.)Natural Gas Imports: N/AProven Natural Gas Reserves:182 Tcf (January 2017 est.)

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Swift focus on macroeconomic and structural reform priorities articulatedin the country’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP 2017-2020) by the renewed government administration and acceleration oftheir implementation could immediately promote needed economicresilience and can be expected to strengthen growth further thancurrent projections.

The World Bank also pointed to development challenges going forwardin its report: “While Nigeria has made some progress in socio-economicterms in recent years, its human capital development remains weakdue to under-investment and the country ranked 152 of 157 countriesin the World Bank’s 2018 Human Capital Index. Furthermore, thecountry continues to face massive developmental challenges, whichinclude (as always) the need to reduce the dependency on oil anddiversify the economy, address insufficient infrastructure, and buildstrong and effective institutions, as well as governance issues andpublic financial management systems.

“Inequality in terms of income and opportunities has been growingrapidly and has adversely affected poverty reduction. The North-Southdivide has widened in recent years due to the Boko Haram insurgency

and a lack of economic development in the northern part of the country.Large pockets of Nigeria’s population still live in poverty, withoutadequate access to basic services, and could benefit from more inclusivedevelopment policies. The lack of job opportunities is at the core ofthe high poverty levels, of regional inequality, and of social and politicalunrest in the country.”

On the transparency front for its extractives industries, Nigeria had itsbest yet report card. The International Board of thes Extractive IndustryTransparency Initiative (EITI) revealed that Nigeria has attained thehighest rating in implementation of its standards by membercountries. Waziri Adio, the Executive Secretary Nigeria ExtractiveIndustry Transparency Initiative (NEITI) said that the West Africancountry was among the countries that attained “Satisfactory Progress”,the highest rating of the board. Adio went on to say that Nigeria wasrated as having satisfactory progress in 29 out of 31 criteria,adding that it was only on two levels that it rated below satisfactory.“For us achieving satisfactory progress on EITI validation is not adestination, it is a journey. And the journey of continuous progresscontinues. Nigeria will continue to raise the bar in EITI implementation,”he said.

Afr i can Focus

UPSTREAMThe country is the continent’s number one oil producer, generallyproducing in the 1.8 to 2.0 million barrels per day (bpd) range. Accordingto the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC)former Managing Director, Maikanti Baru in June, Nigeria’s productionhit 2.32 million bpd of crude. “Since we came in July 2016, we arefocused on increasing production of oil and gas and condensates. Atsome point, our national combined production was about a millionbarrels; I am happy that as at the end of 2018, we have moved onaveraging last year, about 2.1 million barrels. As I am speaking, thismorning, I look at our production figures, combined with oil andcondensates, we are pushing 2.32 million bpd,” he said.

According to NNPC, Nigeria has around 202 trillion cubic feet (Tcf)of proven gas reserves plus about 600 Tcf unproven gas reserves.Despite this abundance, only about one-quarter of these proved resourcesare being produced or under development. The government has madethe unlocking of its gas resources a priority to increase domestic andindustrial power supply, raise living standards and support sustainableeconomic growth and diversification.

With the launch of Nigeria’s New Gas Policy (NGP) in Q3 2017, bothindigenous and international companies are working on developingtheir respective natural gas assets. Royal Dutch Shell, one of thecountry’s largest producers, operates through two Nigerian units ShellPetroleum Development Company (SPDC) and Shell Nigeria Explorationand Production Company Limited (SNEPCo). Both of these units arebusy helping to keep Nigeria’s oil production totals up and boost thecountry’s natural gas production numbers. SPDC is working closelywith NNPC to increase gas supply for power generation. To this end,in 2018 SPDC expressed its commitment to the Nigerian governmentin executing three out of seven Critical Gas Development Projects –the first being the Assa North/Ohaji South field – partnered with Total,ENI and indigenous producer Seplat. (see inset)

The project, located in south-eastern Imo State, covers OML 21 andOML 53. Assa North, on OML 21 operated by Shell, and Ohaji South,on OML 53 operated by Seplat, are in communication with one anotherand are being developed under a 50/50 unitization agreement. NNPCexpects the fields to produce 600 Mmscf/d of gas and says a doublingof output is possible. It estimates the resource at 4.3 Tcf of gas and 215million barrels of condensate. Part of the resources developed will beused at a processing plant being developed by Seplat. ANOH GasProcessing, which is owned and managed by Seplat and the NigerianGas Co, a unit of NNPC, will develop, build, operate and maintain thegas plant. Production from the processing plant will be used mainlyby domestic industrial customers.

Shell is also working toward FID on its Bonga Southwest Aparo (SWA)project. The first phase of Bonga SWA will include an FPSO, capableof producing 150,000 bpd of oil, tied to more than 20 subsea wells.The project straddles OMLs 118, 132 and 140 and is located about 135km offshore Nigeria, in around 1,400 meters depth. Shell operates theproject with a 55% share. Partners are ExxonMobil (20%), Total(12.5%) and ENI (12.5%). In February Shell invited prospective bidders

Seven Critical Gas Development Projects

In July 2018, NNPC signed agreements on the Seven Critical GasDevelopment Projects. Once all are up and running, the projectsare set to bring 3.4 Bcf of gas online by 2020.

Assa North-Ohaji South Field Development (ANOH) – NNPC,SPDC and Seplat Petroleum• Full field development of Assa North and Ohaji South Gas fields• EPCI of a 2 x 300 Mmscf/d gas processing plant• Construction of 16 km dry gas pipeline from Assa North to OB3

OML 24 and OML 18 joint development – NNPC, Newcross andEroton• Joint field development of OML 24 and 18• Construction of a 12 km gas pipeline to transport Ekulama gas

to Awoba• Expansion of the existing 12” x 30 km Awoba to Cawthorne

Channel Pipeline• Development of the Trans Nigeria Gas Pipeline segment from

Cawthorne Channel-Alakiri-Obigbo Node

Four Unitized Gas Fields – SPDC JV/NAOC JV• Full field development of the four-unit area gas• Construction of gas gathering pipelines from the unitized fields

to a central hub (Assa North CPF) for processing• Gas to be evacuated to the domestic market through OB3 pipeline

OML 26, 30, 42 Development – NPDC and OML 49 MakarabaCluster Development – Chevron Niger ia Limited• Joint development of OMLs 26,30 & 42• Construction of gas pipelines from both OMLs 26 & 30 toUtorogu Gas Plant for processing and evacuated to the domesticmarket through ELPS• Construction of a gas pipeline from Odidi (OML 42) to WENDCPF for processing

Gas supply to Brass Fertilizer Company – SPDC JV and BrassFertilizer Company• A full field development of OML 33 with 2P reserves of 2.2 Tcf

and unlock other satellite fields that are less than 60 km fromBrass

• Construction of eight gas gathering pipelines from the identifiedsupply sources to Brass Fertilizer

• Construction of Pre-Treatment Facilities

OML 13 Cluster Development – NPDC• Cluster gas development of OML 13 with 2P reserves of about

5 Tcf

Cluster Development of Okpokunou/Tuomo West (OML 35/62)– NNPC, SPDC and NAOC• Joint development of Okpokunou and Tuomo West unit area

with a combined 2P gas reserves of 5 Tcf• Construction of gas pipelines from Okpokonou and Tuomo West

to Utorogu Gas Plant


to submit tenders for the execution of the $10-billion deepwater project,however, it was recently reported that Shell pushed back the biddingschedule for the Bonga SWA project. Technical and commercial bidsfor the FPSO vessel were due to be submitted at the end of July, butShell has granted bidders six more weeks, until mid-September, to sendin their respective bids. This follows an earlier two-month extensionto the bid process. Shell is said to be targeting the FID, with first oilflowing in 2023 or 2024.

Like every other year, Nigeria’s petroleum industry remains one of thebusiest on the continent. One of the projects that will add to its productionflows is the Gbetiokun field on OML 40. Eland Oil & Gas announcedthat first production from the Gbetiokun oilfield was achieved via anearly production facility (EPF) in July. The EPF will process all reservoirfluids produced under the initial phase of the Gbetiokun development.The facility has a nominal capacity of 22,000 bpd, which will allowfor production from the additional Gbetiokun development wells beingdrilled in 2019. The development is envisaged in two phases. Phase1 will address production from the deep reservoirs while providingadditional appraisal information on the shallow reservoirs and Phase2 will cover production from the shallow reservoirs.

The Field Development Plan focuses on the development of the deeperreservoirs and envisages the re-entry and completion of the Gbetiokun-1 discovery well and the drilling of the first development well –Gbetiokun-3. These well activities were started in Q3 2018 and theGbetiokun-3 well was completed in Q1 2019. Five more wells areplanned, two in 2019 and three in 2020. A new dedicated pipeline willbe installed to link up with the Forcados export system.

In early 2019 Total’s CEO, Patrick Pouyanne, said his firm wouldmove forward with the development of the Ikike project. The projectwould add around 60,000 bpd to Nigeria’s totals and is just one ofseveral projects Total plans to take the final investment decision thisyear. The company could also take the FID on the deepwater Preowiproject which would add another 70,000 bpd to Total’s production

totals in the West African country. The French firm also plans to expandits Nigerian LNG project in 2019 with Pouyanne saying that the marketfor the resource was “very good today” and the partners are in line toexpand the facility.

Total Upstream Nigeria ended 2018 by bringing the Egina field online.At plateau the Egina is expected to produce 200,000 bpd. The FPSOused to develop the giant Egina field is the largest Total has ever built.This project has also involved a record level of local contractors. Sixof the 18 modules on the FPSO were built and integrated locally, and77% of hours spent on the project were worked locally. Startup hasbeen achieved close to 10% below the initial budget, which representsmore than $1 billion in capex savings, due in particular to excellentdrilling performance where the drilling time per well has been reducedby 30%. The Egina field is the second development in production onOML 130 following the Akpo field, which came online in 2009. Inmid-July the company achieved No-Routine-Gas-Flaring at its EginaFPSO. The achievement follows the commissioning of the gascompression system on the Egina field. The associated gas from thefield is now being compressed, transported via the Akpo/Amenam gasexport line and monetized through Nigeria LNG. Total operates theEgina with a 24% interest, in partnership with NNPC, Sapetro (15%),CNOOC E&P Nigeria (45%), and Petrobras Oil and Gas (16%).

Another major happening occurred in mid-July when the governmentapproved the field development plan (FDP) for Green EnergyInternational (GEIL) and Lekoil’s Phase II development of the Otakikpomarginal field on OML 11. The FDP involves the drilling of sevenadditional wells and expansion of the crude processing infrastructure.

The plan also includes the construction of an onshore terminal with acapacity of 1.3 million barrels and a 17-km export pipeline to connectthe terminal to an offshore loading system. GEIL director of corporateaffairs, Olusegun Ilori, said that the company intends to increaseproduction from 6,000 bpd to 20,000 bpd. The approval follows thesigning of a MoU with a consortium of international financiers for apackage of more than $350 million to move forward the second phasedevelopment of Otakikpo. The consortium includes an internationalbank based in London, a crude oil off-taker, and an EPIC contractor.

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Nigeria’s downstream sector is busy as well. The main issue the WestAfrican country faces is upgrading its refining industry to eliminatethe need for costly imported fuel products. This state of affairs haslong been an issue, and over various governments along with NNPCmanagement changes, plans to rehabilitate the industry have come andgone, but the status quo is set to change!

Nigeria’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, founder of Dangote Industries,set in motion plans to bring the world’s largest single train refineryonline at 650,000 bpd. The ambitious Nigerian project, pegged ataround $15 billion, is projected to annually produce 10.4 million tonsof gasoline, 4.6 million tons of diesel and 4 million tons of jet fuel by2020. Dangote plans to export about 35% of the plant’s products, whilethe rest will serve the domestic market.

The facility is at around 50% completion, but recent reports seem tosuggest the project’s final completion will be delayed. Dangote GroupExecutive Director Devakumar Edwin, who oversees the project, toldReuters, “We will be able to complete the (refinery) project by the endof next year – mechanical completion,” and suggested the companycould start using the refinery’s tank farms as a depot to warm upoperations. Other experts think the end of 2020 is optimistic and areestimating 2022 as a more realistic completion date.

The Dangote complex will also include a 3-million metric ton per yearfertilizer factory and a petrochemical plant. The unit will be poweredby gas, which will be piped from the Niger delta via two 550-kilometerunderwater pipelines. This should result in the Dangote project beingable to supply fertilizer, kerosene and gasoline to the entire Nigerianpopulation and still have plenty of products to export to neighboring

countries, bringing in important foreign exchange reserves. In March,Dangote Fertilizer entered into a long-term agreement with ChevronNigeria Limited (CNL) for the delivery of LNG from Chevron’s supplyportfolio to the fertilizer plant.

On the pipeline front, in February it was announced that the plannedNigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline (NMGP) is moving forward, with thefirst phase of the FEED already launched. Penspen was awarded acontract by NNPC and Morocco’s ONHYM to execute the first phaseof the FEED. The award is a follow-up on the feasibility study completedby Penspen in July 2018. The FEED Phase I consisted of a detailedreview of the feasibility study results and in-depth evaluation of the gasdemand and supply study. At the end of the study, key detailed outcomeswill help the client prepare for the second phase of the FEED which isexpected to lead to the FID. The FEED signals the implementation ofone of the three economic cooperation agreements signed in Rabat byleaders of both countries last year. Morocco and Nigeria expect tocomplete the project in phases over a period of 25 years.

“The pipeline will help in the industrialization of these countries andalso meet the needs of consumers for heating and other uses. We seegas as a fuel to take Africa to the next level,” Minister Kachikwu said.Also commenting on the pipeline was the NNPC chief who said thegas pipeline would traverse at least 15 West African countries andconnect to the existing Europe gas pipeline. According to former NNPCMD Makanti Baru, the feasibility study of the gas pipeline has beenconcluded and the pre-FID Greenfield optimization study is currentlyongoing. The NMGP, designed to be 5,660 km long, will reduce gasflaring in Nigeria and encourage diversification of energy resourcesin the country.

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MOROCCOorocco has long been part of the history of not only Africabut Europe as well, being under the control of both Franceand Spain at one time or another. The country has an Arab

majority having been the subject of the Arab invasion in the 7th and8th centuries, although through the next seven or so centuries, dynastiesand religious movements came and went, including the Almoravidmovement which at its peak controlled not only Morocco, but parts ofpresent day Algeria and Spain.

The current ruling family in Morocco dates back to the 17th century,the Alaouite Dynasty. Following independence from France in 1956the current monarch’s grandfather, Sultan Mohammed V, organizedthe new state as a constitutional monarchy and in 1957 assumed thetitle of king. Today’s ruler, King Mohammed VI in early 2011responded to the Arab Spring protests that erupted across North Africaand the Middle East by implementing a reform program thatincluded a new constitution, passed by popular referendum inJuly 2011, under which some new powers were extended toparliament and the prime minister, but left ultimate authority in thehands of the monarch. In September 2015, Morocco held its first directelections for regional councils, one of the reforms included in the2011 constitution.

Since its appointment in April 2017, Morocco’s government coalitionled by the Justice and Development Party (PJD) has moved forward

with the roll out of pro-poor reforms initiated under the previousgovernment, focusing mainly on social protection programs, job creationand reducing economic disparities across the country.According to the World Bank, the government is working to developa new development model for the country based on enhanced educationand vocational training programs and bolder policies to boost jobcreation and promote inclusive growth through a modernized socialprotection system.

On the economic front, Real GDP growth slowed down in 2018 to anestimated 3% compared to 4.1% in 2017, owing to the decline ofagricultural value-added growth, which was only partially compensatedby otherwise good performance of non-agricultural activities. Miningactivities contributed the most to growth apart from agriculture, mostlydriven by phosphates production and exports. Morocco saw itsunemployment rate decrease slightly to 9.8%, yet it masked a protracteddecline in the labor force participation, which dropped by 0.5 percentagepoint to 46.2%.

The fiscal deficit fell short of the government’s target, which did notallow to generate the envisaged savings in the context of low growth.On the revenue side, measures to improve tax collection throughextension of the tax base, harmonization of tax rates, and efforts tofight tax evasion compensated for the impact of weaker economicactivity on tax revenue.

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Politics & Economy

MOROCCO

Chief of State: King MohammedVI (since July 1999)Head of Government:PM Saad-Eddine al-Othmani(since March 2017)Independence: March 2, 1956 (from France)Population: 34,314,130 (July 2018 est.)GDP (purchasing power parity):$298.6 billion (2017 est.)Real GDP Growth Rate: 4.1% (2017 est.)Per Capita GDP: $8,600 (2017 est.)Minister of Energy, Mines and SustainableDevelopment: Aziz RebbahOil Production: NARefined Oil Consumption:278,000 bpd (2016 est.)Proven Oil Reserves:684,000 barrels (1 January 2018 est.)Natural Gas Production:87.78 Mmcm (2017 est.)Natural Gas Consumption:1.218 Bcm (2017 est.)Proven Natural Gas Reserves:1.444 Bcm (January 2018 est.) So

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While the country is not a powerhouse producer, it does manage toattract a significant amount of attention from oil and gas firms fromaround the world. Firms operating in Morocco come in every size fromthe smallest of independents to the largest of the majors. While thecountry only produces a small amount of oil, its natural gas resourcesare on the uptick. Below is just a sampling of what is taking place inthe country’s oil and gas sector.

One of the small independents that are keeping things interesting inMorocco is SDX Energy. The company’s acreage consists of fiveconcessions, all of which are located in the Gharb Basin in northernMorocco: Sebou, Lalla Mimouna Nord, Gharb Centre, Lalla MimounaSud, and the Moulay Bouchta Ouest. The Lalla Mimouna Sud and theMoulay Bouchta Ouest were just awarded to the company earlier thisyear. The Moulay Bouchta Ouest exploration license, covering an areaof 458 sq km, was awarded to SDX for a period of eight years. SDXhas a commitment to reprocess 150 km of 2D seismic data, acquire100 sq km of new 3D seismic and drill one exploration well within thefirst three-and-a-half-year period. The Lalla Mimouna Sud was originallypart of the Circle Oil acquisition in 2017; the concession expired afterall the work commitments were fulfilled. SDX reapplied for the acreageafter the acquisition of additional 3D seismic in the area. The companyhas a commitment to acquire 50 sq km of 3D seismic and drill oneexploration well within the first three-year period.

SDX holds these concessions, all located in the Gharb Basin, with a75% working interest and operatorship. During 2018, the companycompleted a nine-well drilling program, starting in September 2017,which covered six appraisal/development wells in Sebou, oneappraisal/development well in Gharb Centre, and two exploration wellsin Lalla Mimouna Nord. Out of the nine wells drilled, seven weresuccessful, including the LNB-1 and LMS-1 exploration wells in LallaMimouna Nord, which resulted in a two-year extension being grantedto the concession, extending its validity from July 2018 to July 2020with no additional work commitments. Planning for the 12-well drillingcampaign targeting 15 Bcf of gross unrisked prospective resources hascommenced. Long lead items have been ordered with the drilling rig

and all other key contracts finalized. The campaign is expected tocommence in Q4 2019 and is targeting sufficient reserves to satisfyexisting customers’ forecast demand, as well as testing new play-opening areas of prospectivity across the portfolio.

SDX Energy saw an increase in gas sales out of Morocco, withproduction remaining stable. During 2018, SDX began selling naturalgas to the following new customers: Peugeot, Extralait, and GPCKenitra. In addition, during Q1 2019, natural gas sales began to anothernew customer, Setexam, and natural gas sales agreements were signedwith Citic Dicastal and Omnium Plastic. The company said in itsquarterly report that it would target an average gross production of 6.0– 6.5 Mmscf/d of conventional natural gas sales, this is down significantlyfrom its previous guidance of achieving 9.0-11.0 Mmscf/d ofconventional natural gas sales by the end of 2019. The new guidanceis based on customers currently under contract and also reflects that,in Q1 2019, the company’s second largest customer reallocated aproduction line from Morocco to Spain and thus has reduced its volumesby 30% compared to 2018 levels.

In Q4 2018 Sound Energy and its partners, including Schlumberger,signed an eight-year petroleum agreement covering the Tendrara andMatarka areas. The new Greater Tendrara Petroleum Agreement covers

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an area of approximately 14,500 sq km extending across easternMorocco and surrounding the development concession application arearelating to the Tendrara gas discovery. The new Greater TendraraPetroleum Agreement will unite the areas covered by the Tendrarapetroleum agreement granted in April 2013 and the Matarkareconnaissance license granted in July 2017.

The work commitments under the Greater Tendrara PetroleumAgreement includes an initial period of four years with two explorationwells drilled. The optional first complementary period of two yearsincludes one exploration well with the minimum Triassic objective.There is also an exploration well required in the optional secondcomplementary period of two years with the minimum Triassic objective.Sound drilled both the TE-9 and the TE-10, fulfilling its first periodcommitment. Unfortunately, neither were the success Sound and itspartners were looking for. The TE-9 well encountered 60 meters ofdolomitized silty sandstone, interpreted as an age equivalent to theprimary target TAGI sandstone. The petrophysical analysis of thewireline data indicated the interval was of low porosity and thereforepoor reservoir quality. The well was subsequently plugged andabandoned.

While the TE-10 was deemed a discovery, it failed to find successwhile on test. Although the well flowed gas to the surface, it did notachieve commercial flow rates following the stimulated well test.After the initial clean up, two nitrogen lift operations weresubsequently performed in an attempt to increase the gas flow rate,followed by nitrogen injection into the fracture network. Despite thenitrogen lifts and injection, the company reports that the gas flow ratesachieved were below the 1.5 Mmscf/d to 2.0 Mmscf/d commercialthreshold required for development. In total approximately 64,500 scfof gas and approximately 2,300 barrels of liquid were recoveredover an 11-day period. The hydrocarbon gas was sampled and flaredat the wellsite.

Morocco saw new entrants over the past few months with QatarPetroleum entering a deal with ENI, this time to gain access to anexploration permit offshore Morocco, the Tarfaya Offshore ShallowI-XII exploration permit. ENI, who controls a 75% stake in the license,signed a lease-out agreement with QP to sell 30% of it. The TarfayaOffshore permit includes 12 exploration blocks. This agreement issubject to approval by the Moroccan authorities. In the event of

validation, ENI will retain its operatorstatus and hold a 45% stake. QP willhold 30% and state-run ONHYMwill hold a 25% stake. ENI iscurrently conducting geological andgeophysical studies as part of the firstexploration period.

Another new entrant is Predator Oil& Gas Holdings, who saw itsapplication for an exclusive licensefor onshore acreage in northeasternM o r o c c o a c c e p t e d b y t h egovernment. Predator was awardeda 75% stake in the 7,269 sq km

Guercif I, II, III, and IV permits in the east of the Gharb Basin. ONHYMwill hold the remaining 25% of the license. The license covers an eight-year period, divided into three phases. According to the terms of theagreement, Predator has the possibility to acquire the shares of ONHYM,if the license is sufficiently developed, and if the share of investmentsmade by the public part is refunded.

In April of this year Chariot Oil and Gas added to its acreage in theNorth African country. The company was awarded a 75% interest andoperatorship of the Lixus Offshore license while ONHYM holds a 25%carried interest. The Lixus license covers an area of approximately2,390 sq km, 30 km north of Chariot’s existing Moroccan acreage,with water depths ranging from the coastline to 850 meters. The areahas been subject to earlier exploration with legacy 3D seismic datacovering about 1,425 sq km and four exploration wells, including theAnchois gas discovery.

The Anchois-1 well was drilled in 2009 in 388 meters water depthsome 40 km from the coast. The well encountered an estimated net gaspay of 55 meters in two sands with average porosities ranging from25% to 28%. A new independent audit of this discovery by NetherlandSewell and Associates Inc. (NSAI) estimates a 2C contingent resourceof 307 Bcf. A deeper target not penetrated by the well has 2C prospectiveresources estimated by NSAI of 116 Bcf, with the Anchois discoverycontaining a remaining recoverable resource of 423 Bcf. An additionalfive prospects have been identified in Lixus in similar geologicalsettings as Anchois but currently without the appropriately conditioned3D seismic data to confirm comparable anomalous seismic signature,and these prospects have gross mean prospective resources rangingfrom 66 Bcf to 330 Bcf, as estimated by the company.

Seismic reprocessing will be undertaken to reduce the risk for theseadditional prospects. NSAI will be preparing a Competent PersonsReport on these prospects and on Anchois N and Anchois NW. Chariotis also evaluating leads identified in the section below the Nappe whichhas the potential for giant scale prospective resources. The initial licensecommitment, for which Chariot is fully funded, includes a technicalprogram of 3D seismic reprocessing and evaluation to access theadditional exploration potential of Lixus. Chariot will also furtherevaluate the gas market, test development concepts through a feasibilitystudy and seek strategic partnerships and alliances to progress towardsthe development of the Anchois discovery.

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On the downstream end, the government has been focused onLNG. In Q4 2018 the National Office for Electricity and Water (ONEE)launched a tender for a $4.5-billion LNG import terminal project.The project is to be located at the Jorf Lafsar port in El Jadidaprovince, near Casablanca, and will supply the industries based in theregion. The jetty, regasification terminal, and 400-km pipeline areexpected to be complete by 2025. Morocco intends to use the facilityto import up to 7 Bcm of natural gas in the context of the national gas-to-power initiative.

There is also a pipeline in the works between Nigeria and Moroccowith the first phase of the FEED already launched. Penspen wasawarded a contract by ONHYM and Nigeria’s NNPC to execute thefirst phase of the FEED of an approximate 5,700-km gas pipelineproposed to run from Nigeria to Morocco. The award is a follow-upon the feasibility study completed by Penspen in July 2018.

The FEED Phase I consisted of a detailed review of the feasibilitystudy results and in-depth evaluation of the gas demand and supplystudy. Further design of the pipeline system, in addition to the execution

of an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, will then be carriedout with the aim of optimizing the proposed pipeline route and projecteconomics.

Penspen will also support the client in marketing and promoting thepipeline project to potential stakeholders showcasing the wider benefitsof its development. At the end of the study, key detailed outcomes willhelp the client prepare for the second phase of the FEED (FEED PhaseII) which is expected to lead to a final investment decision (FID). TheFEED signaled the implementation of one of the three economiccooperation agreements signed in Rabat by leaders of both countrieslast year.

One of the major deals agreed on was the extension of the West AfricanGas Pipeline (WAGP) from its source in Nigeria to Morocco andEurope, providing gas through the regional pipeline to other countriesin West Africa as well. Both countries expect to complete the projectin phases over a period of 25 years. This is similar to the developmentof the WAGP, which was originally proposed in 1982 but not developedfully for a couple of decades.

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AROUND THE WORLD

Churchill Technology SeversStuck Pipe in Just One HourThanks to Churchill Drilling Tools a major MiddleEast operator was able to recover a stuck pipe bysevering its drill string in just one hour. Accordingto Churchill, this is the third time already in 2019that its HyPRHoleSaver™ technology has beensuccessfully deployed in the Middle East.

The unique dart activated HyPRHoleSaver™enables operators to recover quickly and safelyfrom stuck pipe incidents, which can add millionsof dollars to the costs of an operator’s campaign.To recover from a previous stuck pipe incidentin the same well Churchill’s client, an Emirates-based operator, contracted high energy sourcecutting services. However, the additionalequipment, personnel and logistics cost two daysof valuable rig time. So, when the operator became‘differentially stuck’ in the same well at 12,785ft on May 28 due to heavy losses, the team wereready with the HyPRHoleSaver™ to sever, plugand abandon the section much more quickly. Thesimple HyPR™ system requires no additionaltopside equipment or personnel.

To provide the optimum circulation parameters,the operator first activated Churchill’s DAV MX™CircSub which had been placed beneaththe HyPR™ sub in the drill-string. TheHyPRHoleSaver™ dart was subsequently droppedand pumped to redirect the flow of mud creatinga high velocity stream of fluid, using the existingmud system, to erode and sever the string.

The operator witnessed the expected drop incirculating pressure over a period of 45 minutesof pumping at 520 gallons per minute. Satisfiedthat enough progress had been made, applyingtorque and overpull parted the string with ease.On previous HyPR™ severs operators have cutthrough around 90% of the HyPR™ sub’s full-strength inner connection before applying torqueto twist-off, generally taking two to three hours.However, on this occasion the operator appliedtorque (25 klbf.ft) much earlier to save the extratime. In total, the process took just an hour, arecord for Churchill, and widely thought to bethe industry’s quickest planned severance fromstuck pipe. The operator subsequently plugged

and abandoned the section and moved operationsto another well.

Working in partnership with the operator theChurchill team optimized the tools’ configurationand supported the client to get out of hole quicklyand safely. The Drilling Manager was delightedwith the performance of both the DAV MX™CircSub™ and the ‘excellent’ HyPRHoleSaver™.

C-I Awarded GoM ContractC-Innovation, LLC (C-I), an affiliate of EdisonChouest Offshore (ECO) and its family ofcompanies, was awarded a significant contractto perform Riserless Light Well Intervention(RLWI) activities for BP in the Gulf of Mexico.

The initial contract calls for both mechanical aswell as hydraulic acid stimulations, which willbe executed from C-I’s flagship Gulf of Mexicoassets, the offshore construction and lightwell intervention vessels Island Venture andIsland Performer.

The work will be performed in water depths ofup to 6,500 feet on different assets within theGulf of Mexico and is currently forecasted tocommence as early as July 2019.

ADNOC Contract Goes to CGGSubsurface Imaging, part of CGG’s Geosciencedivision, won a landmark processing contract bythe Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).Under its terms, CGG will perform high-end timeand depth imaging of massive volumes of veryhigh-spec data from what is believed to be theworld’s largest ocean-bottom node (OBN) seismicsurvey to date.

The contract, which started in May, is for a periodof at least five years and a maximum of sevenyears, will see CGG process a minimum20,000 sq km of high-density wide-azimuth OBNseismic data at its Abu Dhabi geoscience center.

This award, which also includes optional reservoircharacterization work, builds on this long-termrelationship with ADNOC. The sustained levelof activity is expected to strengthen tailored R&Dcooperation between the two companies and giveADNOC access to CGG’s wider service offerings.

Safe Concordia Offshore BrazilEquinor Brasil Energia Ltd a awarded a contractto Prosafe for the Safe Concordia to providegangway connected operations supportingmaintenance and safety services at thePeregrino FPSO in the Campos Basinoffshore Brazil.

Contract signing is subject to certain conditions,and the contract has a duration of 120 dayscommencing mid-January 2020 with up to60 days of options.

The Safe Concordia pioneered gangwayconnection to turret moored FPSOs, havingdeveloped the concept in 2012, and hassubsequently provided reliable and safe operationsmaintaining high connectivity to a large numberof installations.

Keppel FELS Tags TMCfor Environmentally Friendly RigKeppel FELS awarded TMC Compressors of theSeas (TMC) a contract to deliver an advancedenergy-saving marine compressed air system tothe first mid-water semi-submersible drilling rigthe yard is building for Awilco Drilling. TMChas not disclosed the value of the contract, butstates that this is a “major contract win for thecompany.”

TMC’s scope of work is to deliver a completemarine compressed instrument air system thatconsists of a compressor bank with a combinationof both base-load and frequency-controlled TMCSmart Air® instrument air compressors, whichreduces energy waste with up to 50% comparedwith other compressors. TMC will also supplyassociated air dryers and filters. The system willbe equipped with peak shaving technology, whichreduces power consumption during periods ofmaximum demand on the on-board power supply.This will reduce energy consumption substantiallyand keep operational costs to a minimum.

Boasting a low environmental footprint, Awilco’sdrilling rig is winterized and designed foroperations in harsh environments, including theNorwegian Continental Shelf, UK Continentalshelf and Barents Sea. According to Keppel FELS,the rig is also equipped with state-of-the-artdigitalization, including condition monitoringsystems, which will enhance the drilling efficiencyand reliability of the rig, while reducing likelihoodof downtime. According to Claus Mørch, projectdirector at Awilco, the rig will become the mostenvironmentally friendly drilling rig for harshconditions.

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Rever OffshoreConsolidates Presence in North SeaRever Offshore continued to consolidate its NorthSea presence with the completion of threestandalone contracts for Total E&P UK (TEPUK).The contracts utilized Rever Offshore’s multi-purpose dive support and offshore constructionvessel (DSV) the Rever Polaris, and ROV supportvessel (ROVSV), the Rever Sapphire.

Operating over 100 days across North Sea assetsduring 2018, the scope of work included DSVconstruction services, inspection repair andmaintenance (IRM) works, and unique operations.

All awards were the result of the long-standingframe agreement in place and represented a repeatof previous successful campaigns for the client.Reflective of the work undertaken, ReverOffshore’s excellence in safety behaviors andperformance was nominated for the annual TotalE&P UK HSE Awards.

A further installation contract for the energy majorwas successfully completed in February 2019,having been brought forward at the beginning ofthe year. This project was recognized as beingthe first of its kind for TEPUK at this depth ofwater and based on its success, Total may considerthis solution for future projects which displaysimilar technical challenges. It is expectedthat further DSV and CSV work by ReverOffshore will continue into the latter half of 2019as part of the continuous frame agreementand safe execution.

Sparrows Group Taggedfor Rigging Loft MaintenanceSparrows Group was awarded its first contractfor the provision of rigging loft maintenanceservices in Qatar. The four-year contract includesthe provision of services for the refurbishment,repair, load test and recertification of rigging loftsand contents.

Management of the equipment will also includesix-monthly rigging loft change outs, provisionof replacement or new equipment and ensuringavailability of properly certified equipment asrequired offshore.

In order to service the work, the company hasestablished a new rigging loft managementworkshop within its Qatar facility with investmentinto new machinery and other office equipment.It has also created job opportunities locally asaround seven new positions are required withinthe workshop.

Siemens ProvidesTurbines for GoM FPSOSiemens will provide MODEC with three 34 MWSGT-A35 gas turbine power generation packagesthat will power MODEC’s FPSO vessel. Thevessel, referred to as the Eni Mexico Area 1 FPSO,will be deployed in the Offshore Area 1,approximately 6 miles (10 kilometers) off thecoast of Mexico at a water depth ofapproximately 105 feet (32 meters). The field isowned by a consortium of two companiesincluding ENI Mexico as operator along withQatar Petroleum.

MODEC is responsible for the engineering,procurement, construction, mobilization,installation, and operation of the FPSO. Onceoperating in 2021, the FPSO is expected toprocess 90,000 bpd of crude oil and have astorage capacity of 900,000 barrels ofcrude oil.

In 2018 MODEC purchased four SGT-A35 gasturbine power generation packages for its FPSOCarioca MV30 for the Sépia field operated byPetrobras, located in the giant “pre-salt” regionof the Santos Basin.

Safeway CompletesW2W Job for WoodsideDutch Safeway successfully completed its ‘first’W2W operation in Australian waters. The Safewaymotion compensated offshore access system ofthe Dutch Van Aalst Group recently completedmore than 1,200 safe personnel transfers and 40gangway operations in only 24 days offshoreAustralia for Woodside Energy.

The campaign experienced no downtime andcreated significant risk elimination and costsavings, resulting in maximum efficiency ofoperations. This achievement also createdhundreds of extra working hours for the PlutoAlpha (PLA) offshore turnaround in Q2, 2019,resulting in more than 40 days of work scopesbeing completed in 27 days.

The PLA gas production platform is operated byWoodside Energy and is located 190 km north-west of Karratha, Western Australia, in 85 metersof water. Gas from the Pluto field is piped througha trunk line to an onshore facility.

For this particular project operator WoodsideEnergy, vessel owner MMA Offshore and DutchSafeway collaborated intensively to install theunique 28-meter-long walk-to-work Seagull-typeon the 87.8-meter-long multi-purpose supportvessel MMA Pinnacle.

Woodside’s Turnaround Excellence ManagerRussell Probert said the fully overhead coveredand weather-proof, telescopic motion-compensated gangway allowed the maintenancecrew safe and direct access to and from the Plutoplatform, even with the vessel’s pitching androlling motions.

KCA Deutag ScoresThree Russian Drilling ContractsKCA Deutag’s (KCAD) land drilling operationwon three new contracts in Russia worthapproximately $168 million. These contracts arefor eight high-performance land rigs, seven ofwhich were previously built by Bentec, KCAD’srig and oilfield equipment manufacturer.

The first contract is with an existing client forfive of those rigs to carry out drilling operationsin two fields in Eastern Siberia. Each rig isexpected to drill for varying periods of betweenthree and four years. The contract increases thenumber of rigs currently have operating for thisclient from four to five.

The next contract is for two 1500 HP ClusterSlider rigs which will drill in northern Russia.It is an extension to an existing contract and willrun until December 31, 2021.

In addition to this, KCAD has won a new contractfor one of its 2000 HP land rigs to drill four wellsin Southern Russia. This has an estimated durationof five months per well.

Petro Matad Spuds Heron-1 in MongoliaPetro Matad spud the Heron-1 exploration well inthe Tamsag Basin of Block XX in Mongolia. Thewell is an appraisal of the T19-46 oil fieldimmediately to the north in Block XIX andis being drilled with the DQE International40105 rig.

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AROUND THE WORLD

The Heron-1 well is targeting a prospect with 25million barrels of oil of Mean ProspectiveRecoverable Resource and is planned to drill toa total depth of 3,050 meters. The well is expectedto take up to 40 days to complete.

In the event of a discovery, the company willbring in a separate rig for testing. A call-off testingcontract has been signed, which ensures testingoperations, if warranted, can commence soonafter discovery. Upon completion of drillingoperations at Heron-1 the rig will move around5 km to the Gazelle-1 location.

Saipem Wins Drilling Jobsin Romania and Abu DhabiSaipem was awarded new contracts for offshoredrilling in Romania and Abu Dhabi worth over$160 million. Under one contract the companywill drill a well in Romania’s Black Sea watersduring Q4. Drilling will be carried out by thesemi-submersible rig Scarabeo 9, a drilling unitsuitable for operations in the area due to its abilityto lower its tower which enables crossing of theBosphorus Strait.

In addition, a contract has been awarded fordrilling works offshore Abu Dhabi. The drillingactivities will be carried out by the high spec jackup Perro Negro 8, in continuity with currentoperations. The contract will have a duration offour years.

Arcticgas Completes Horizontal WellArcticgas, a JV between Novatek and Gazprom,successfully completed horizontal well numberU2802 targeting the lower Achimov formationat the Urengoyskoye field.

An eight-stage hydro-fracturing program wassuccessfully completed utilizing a record-highproppant volume of 2,187 tons at well numberU2802 with a total length of 5,624 meters and ahorizontal section of 1,500 meters. A uniquewireless inflow monitoring technology usingmarked proppant was implemented .Permanent downhole pressure and temperaturegauges are also used in the production to monitorreal-time data.

Utilizing state-of-the-art technologies, the wellachieved a daily flow rate of more than 1 Mmcm/dof natural gas and 500 tons of gas condensate,confirming significant prospect to develop thelower Achimov deposits.

Xanadu 3D Program CompleteSeismic acquisition operations on the Xanadu3D Transition Zone seismic program onexploration permit TP/15 have been completed,

according to Norwest Energy. Surveying of thewestern panel was completed on July 11 and, aswith the eastern panel, excellent fold of subsurfacecoverage has been achieved.

Contractor Synterra Technologies is currentlydemobilizing from site and recovering data fromthe western panel geophones for dispatch toseismic processing contractor Earth SignalProcessing, in Calgary, Canada. Earth Signal arealready in receipt of the data from the easternpanel, and data processing is under way.

The 40sq km 3D Transitional Zone seismicprogram was designed to fully delineate theXanadu oil discovery, focusing on the northernup-dip region, and the southern down-dip regionextending out to the western flank of the structure.The Xanadu discovery was drilled based on onlylimited 2D seismic coverage, insufficient toprovide the high-resolution subsurface modelrequired to guide future appraisal drilling. Theinterpreted results of the 3D seismic program willform the basis for contingent resource estimationand appraisal well design.

Fugro and AGI Selling Canadian DataFugro and Amplified Geochemical Imaging(AGI) saw recent success selling multiplelicenses for data from frontier regions offshorethe east coast of Canada. The data were acquiredduring two separate hydrocarbon seep surveys inthe Orphan Basin and the Carson Bason, bothlocated on the continental margin ofNewfoundland.

The comprehensive data packages are beinglicensed by Fugro and include multibeam echosounder data (bathymetry, backscatter intensityand water column), sub-bottom profiler data, heatflow measurements and shipboard geochemicalscreening analyses; advanced geochemicalanalyses, including biomarkers on select samples,are also included.

The Orphan Basin package covers an area of11,070 sq km and the Carson Basin packagecovers an area of 18,880 sq km; each survey wasfollowed by heat flow and geochemical samplingand analysis. Both programs were planned so thatpurchasing clients would have the data in advanceof the upcoming lease rounds.

McDermott Picks-UpMega Middle East ContractsMcDermott International was awarded a coupleof contracts in the Middle East. The first contract,worth in excess of $3 billion, is Package 1 withSaudi Aramco, for its Marjan IncrementDevelopment Mega-Project.

Under the contract McDermott will provide theEPCI of the gas-oil separation plant (GOSP) ina consortium with China Offshore Oil EngineeringCompany (COOEC). McDermott will lead theconsortium with COOEC in an integratedexecution model utilizing McDermott’s extensiveglobal assets and facilities.

The Package 1 GOSP separation platform islocated offshore in the eastern flank of the ArabianGulf. This is the operational center of the Marjanincrement development mega-project and willdraw upon McDermott’s extensive interface andlogistics management capabilities.

The award represents the single largest EPCIoffshore contract awarded by Aramco. TheMarjan Increment Project will increaseproduction from 500,000 to 800,000 bpd of oil,with Package 1 GOSP facilities at the core ofthe development.

The second contract comes from Qatar Petroleumand is for McDermott to provide the FEED workfor offshore wellhead platforms, pipelines andcables associated with the North Field Expansion(NFE) project.

The scope includes the design of four offshoretrunk lines with intra-field pipelines, eightwellhead platforms and power and fiber optic(PFO) subsea cable rings. The FEED contractwill be executed from McDermott’s Doha offices,with drafting to be executed in Chennai.

Mubadala and Premier SignAgreement on North Sumatra AcreageMubadala Petroleum signed an agreementwith Premier Oil to farm out a 20%participating interest in each of the Andaman Iand South Andaman Gross Split PSCs.Mubadala Petroleum is the operator of both theAndaman I and adjacent South Andaman PSCsin North Sumatra.

The Andaman I and South Andaman PSCs arelocated in the underexplored but provenNorth Sumatra Basin offshore Aceh. MubadalaPetroleum is also a partner with a 30%participating interest in the Andaman II PSCwhich is operated by Premier Oil.

With participating interests in these three adjacentblocks, Mubadala Petroleum is the largest netacreage holder in the area, securing the core ofthe North Sumatra Basin for future explorationgrowth. The PSCs have the potential to unlocka new material gas play for domestic consumptionin North Sumatra and potentially long-term exportto regional markets.


MARKET MOVERS

Oxy in Proxy FightOccidental Petroleum (OXY) is facing a fightwith one of its shareholders, as Carl Icahn formallylaunched a proxy fight against the firm. Icahn islooking to control four board seats and launchedthe proxy fight when talks with Oxy CEO, VickiHollub, failed to reach an agreement.

Icahn previously blasted the Oxy CEO for failingto give owners a say on its $38 billion acquisitionof Anadarko Petroleum, which he has called“misguided and hugely overpriced.”

According to an Oxy spokesman, the use of aconsent solicitation to elect directors would requirea majority of shares outstanding to be voted infavor, a greater hurdle than a special meetingof shareholders.

Otakikpo JV Enters MoULekoil’s Otakikpo JV with Green EnergyInternational Ltd. (GEIL) entered into a MoUwith Schlumberger and a subsidiary of anunnamed major international oil companyoperating in Nigeria. The MoU covers acomprehensive infrastructure sharing and drillingprogram geared around a group of marginal fieldassets in OML 11.

The Otakikpo JV will partake in the costs of itsfield development with funds provided for suchparticipation by the development consortium.Project management and associated assetmanagement costs provided by Schlumbergerwill be shared between the Otakikpo JV and theoperators and owners of other marginal fieldsparticipating in the project.

Capital expenditure to be incurred by the OtakikpoJV is expected to be approx. $170 million coveringnew wells and processing infrastructure, of whichLekoil is expected to fund $68 million. Theanticipated costs consist of debt repayment tofinancing parties, including the major oil firm, inaddition to a project implementation fee paid toSchlumberger. Repayment of the facilitiesanticipated to be provided to the Otakikpo JVpursuant to the project will be made fromproduction revenues from Otakikpo, in priorityto any existing lending facilities (subject toagreement with existing lenders), future Capexand returns to equity holders.

Centurion Law to Publicly ListCenturion Law Group is set to become the firstAfrican legal and energy advisory firm to bepublicly-listed this year, as it prepares to joinone of Europe’s leading stock exchanges. Thisrepresents a natural step for Centurion given the

group’s strong market share within the oil &gas sector in sub-Saharan Africa and itsincreased activity.

In 2018 Centurion acquired IMANI-AfricanLawyers on Demand to launch Centurion Plus,Africa’s leading flexible legal services model thatoffers cost savings and efficient flexible legalservices across the continent. Through CenturionPlus, corporate clients throughout Africa canselect from a pool of approximately 190 carefullyvetted, on-demand attorneys for temporary andproject-based legal services.

Ensco Rowan Changes NameEnsco Rowan changed its name to Valaris plc,effective July 31. Following its name change, thecompany’s ordinary shares will trade under thenew ticker symbol VAL.

The name Valaris was selected following acomprehensive process that included participationfrom the company’s employees around the world,feedback from customers and other marketresearch.

This new name was inspired by the Latin rootmeaning strength, courage and signifyingsomething of value, and the Valaris nameembodies the company’s ambition to be ‘BoldlyFirst’ as the leader in the industry.

Weatherford Files Chapter 11Weatherford International initiated its previouslyannounced financial restructuring by commencingvoluntary cases under chapter 11 of the U.S.Bankruptcy Code to effectuate its ‘pre-packaged’Plan of Reorganization. The company’s otherentities and affiliates are not included in theChapter 11 Cases.

Weatherford also expects to file Bermuda andIrish examiner ship proceedings in the comingmonths. The comprehensive financial restructuringwould significantly reduce the company’s long-term debt and related interest costs, provide accessto additional financing and establish a moresustainable capital structure.

The company has received commitments fromlenders for $1.75 billion of debtor-in-possessionfinancing (the DIP Facility). The proceeds of theDIP Facility will be available to fundWeatherford’s capital needs throughout the Cases.

Additionally, upon exit from bankruptcy thecompany will have access to additional financingin the form of (a) an undrawn first lien exitrevolving credit facility in the principal amount

of up to $1.0 billion, and (b) up to $1.25 billionof new tranche A senior unsecured notes with afive-year maturity. In addition, on emergencefrom bankruptcy the company will issue $1.25billion of new tranche B senior unsecured noteswith a seven-year maturity to holders of thecompany’s existing unsecured notes.

Blue Ocean Big on HSSEGhana’s leading Bulk Distributor of PetroleumProducts, Blue Ocean Investments Ltd., wasnamed the overall HSSE Company of the Yearat the 2019 Health, Environment, Safety andSecurity (HESS) Awards held in Accra. Inaddition, the company has also taken the awardfor the HSSE Team of the Year 2019.

Organized by Ianmatsun Global Services Ltd,organizers of the Sustainability and SocialInvestment Awards in partnership with FirmusAdvisory, a leading research company in Ghana,the HESS awards were established to recognizecompanies for their exceptional performance andinnovation focused on occupational safety, securityand the environment.

This award comes shortly after Blue OceanInvestments held a large-scale Tier-3 EmergencySimulation at its Tema Multi Product Terminal,to test the robustness of its emergency responsesystems. With the full involvement of theemergency services, NADMO, and the variousmunicipal and regulatory authorities, the drillwas a huge success.

It is also worth noting that since its inception in2016, Blue Ocean Investments has had zerofatalities and zero major incidents acrossall operations.

Energean Acquiring Edison E&P AssetsEnergean Oil & Gas entered into a conditionalsale and purchase agreement to acquire EdisonExploration & Production S.p.A. The cost of theacquisition is $750 million, which will be adjustedfor working capital, with additional contingentconsideration of $100 million payable followingfirst gas from the Cassiopea development(expected 2022), offshore Italy.

Energean gains Edison E&P’s portfolio ofassets in Egypt, Italy, Algeria, the UK NorthSea and Croatia. The deal gives the firmworking interest of 2P reserves of 292 mmboeand 2018 net working interest production of69,000 boepd.

Energean will initially fund the deal through a$600 million committed bridge loan facility and


up to $265 million of equity financing through arecently announced placing.

Aker Signs Bond Deal with AFCAker Energy signed a $100 million convertiblebond deal with Africa Finance Corporation (AFC),a multilateral institution specializing ininfrastructure financing in Africa. According tothe firm, these bonds have a coupon of 5.5% perannum and will be converted into shares in theevent of Aker Energy’s IPO, with a discount thatwill be agreed upon against a price.

Bond proceeds will be invested in financing thedevelopment of the Deepwater Tano Cape ThreePoints Block (DWT / CTP), a block located offGhana and controlled by Aker Energy whoseestimates say the block contains more than onebillion recoverable barrels. Aker will need a littlemore than a $1 billion to start the initial phase ofproduction of the project.

Tullow Frustrated in UgandaEndless negotiations with the Ugandangovernment are holding up Tullow Oil’s attemptsto sell a 21.75% stake in its Ugandan holdings.In a Bloomberg report Paul McDade, TullowCEO, said efforts to offload the stake to its fellowpartner in Uganda, Total, continue to stall withgovernment persistently failing to give the deala go-ahead.

“What we put together we thought was in thebest interest of all parties, including thegovernment of Uganda. We feel somewhatfrustrated [two and half years] later that the effortson that farm-down structure have beenunsuccessful in completing,” he said, noting thatthey were now looking for alternative ways toget the deal done.

“What we are doing is gently standing back andlooking at: Are there other ways to structure thedeal? It’s really just about not continuing just totry and push the same thing,” McDade toldBloomberg.

While Tullow may be frustrated, other reportshave the Energy Minister, Irene Muloni,wondering at the frustration. Muloni told theDaily Monitor that the government was not awareof any frustration, wondering who Tullow hadcomplained to. “… be fair. Tullow complainedto who? To you?” she wondered in a brief phoneinterview, noting she would give a full responseafter understanding the contents of the allegedfrustration.

The Ugandan cabinet, in February, okayed thesale to Total E&P. And near the close of 2018

Muloni told the Daily Monitor, government hadendorsed Tullow’s desire to sell its assets to TotalE&P subject to the payment of $167 million(about Shs614b) in capital gains tax.

“On November 21, 2018 I gave conditionalconsent for this transaction, subject to paymentof the tax obligations as assessed by UgandaRevenue Authority (URA),” she said at a briefingabout the status of Uganda’s oil sector. “Inprinciple, we do not have any problem with thearrangement: how they clear up the $167 millionis something they will have to arrange with URA,”she said.

VAALCO Pays$4.5 Million in Angola ExitVAALCO Energy, paid $4.5 million to the AngolaNational Agency of Petroleum, Gas, and Biofuels(ANPG). The payment falls under a previouslyannounced Settlement Agreement executed earlierthis year that finalized the termination ofVAALCO’s rights, liabilities and outstandingobligations for Block 5/06 in Angola.

The Settlement Agreement provided for a cashpayment of $4.5 million from VAALCO to theNational Concessionaire as well as the eliminationof the receivable from Sonangol P&P that wasrelated to joint-interest billings.

Emerson Completes Zedi PurchaseEmerson completed the purchase of Zedi’ssoftware and automation businesses. The additionof Zedi’s cloud supervisory control and dataacquisition (SCADA) platform will further enableEmerson, a global leader in automation, to helpoil and gas producers increase production andlower operating costs through cloud-basedmonitoring, control and optimization.

Zedi’s technology is currently enablingcustomers to monitor more than two millionsensors and thousands of devices andapplications. By combining Zedi’s scalable cloudplatform and applications expertise withEmerson’s extensive applications, controller,instrumentation and flow metering portfolio,this acquisition expands opportunities forEmerson across the global oil and gasproduction market.

Emerson and Zedi’s software and automationbusinesses share a common vision of automatingthe production process through edge and cloudanalytics and machine learning. The combinedsoftware and expertise of the two companies willprovide producers with scalable and easilydeployable end-to-end connected solutions tooptimize and manage their operations.

Egypt’s Petro Industry Pays Down DebtAccording to recent reporting, Egypt’s arrears toforeign oil companies declined to $900 millionat the end of June from $1.2 billion a year ago.This information was provided by Tarek elMolla, the country’s petroleum minister. He alsosaid he expected the remaining balances owed tooil companies operating in the country to bepaid soon.

In cooperation with the International MonetaryFund, a set of stringent reforms have been inplace for the last few years, aimed at bringingdown Egypt’s debt and kick-starting theeconomy. Some of these reforms included theremoval of subsidies previously provided by thepetroleum industry to consumers, fuel and naturalgas being among those that were costing thegovernment billions.

Lincoln Completes Askaynak BuyLincoln Electric Holdings completed the purchaseof the controlling stake of Kaynak Teknigi Sanayive Ticaret A.S. (Askaynak) to advance its regionalgrowth strategy in Europe, the Middle Eastand Africa. Terms of the transaction were notdisclosed.

As previously disclosed, Askaynak is located inTurkey and is the country’s leading supplier andmanufacturer of welding consumables, arcwelding equipment, including plasma and oxy-fuel cutting equipment, and robotic weldingsystems. Askaynak generates approximately $70million in annual revenue.

Samsung Wins Award for Egina JobSamsung Heavy Industries Nigeria (SHIN) haswon the Project of the Year award at the AfricanAssembly, organized by the Oil and Gas Councilin Paris.

SHIN received the award in partnership withTotal for its work on the Egina FPSO, locatedoffshore Nigeria. This is not the first award SHINhas received at the African Assembly, they alsowon 2018’s “Breakthrough Deal of the Year”.

The company beat out other nominees thatincluded Eland Oil & Gas, ExxonMobil, and ENI.

USTDA’s Kress Meetswith Sonatrach and SonelgazThe Worldwide Energy Sector Team Leader andRegional Director for East Asia, MENA, Europe& Eurasia for the USTDA, Carl B. Kress, was inAlgeria near the end of June to build on theUSTDA’s already long partnership with the NorthAfrican country. Kress’ visit is part of US efforts

MARKET MOVERS


to partner with Algerians on economicdevelopment.

During his visit Kress met with the head of state-run oil firm Sonatrach’s CEO, Rachid Hachichi,regarding the continued planning of a proposedreverse trade mission to the US. The reverse trademission will be aimed at connecting Sonatrachexecutives with US firms that have equipment,services and technologies that can supportAlgeria’s energy development goals.

Sonelgaz CEO Chahar Boulakhras also met withKress as part of the proceedings for technicalcollaboration between the two. Boulakhras

expressed his satisfaction with the previousUSTDA-funded training for Sonelgaz staff underan agreement signed during Kress’ last visit toAlgeria. The USTDA funded executive andsenior management-level training was conductedby GE.

Kress also met with the board of the AmericanChamber of Commerce in Algiers to discuss howbest to promote US-Algerian economicpartnership.

Nigeria’s PTDF Awards ScholarshipsNigeria’s Petroleum Technology DevelopmentFund (PTDF) is promoting its overseas scholarship

program. According to the PTDF’s executivesecretary, Dr Bello Aliyu Gusau, the program isthe best in the country.

Adamu-Waziri said that the program was tailoredto help develop Nigeria’s oil and gas sectorduring the induction of 342 beneficiaries of thefund for 2019/2020 overseas Masters ofScience and Doctors of Philosophy scholarshipprogram.

Rabiah Adamu-Waziri, manager, Education andTraining at PTDF, said the beneficiaries werethose that excelled in the oil and gas field duringtheir first degrees.


POWER & ALTERNATIVES

Egypt’s NREA Plans Wind FarmEgypt’s New and Renewable Energy Authority(NREA) plans to build a 200-MW wind farmnear the Gulf of Suez, according to an Al Malreport. Feasibility studies are being conductedfor the new project, in cooperation withinternational institutions, to identify bird migrationseasons and ensure environmental protection.

Investments in the project are expected to reachEGP 4 billion, according to NREA’s ChairmanMohamed El-Khayat, who also revealed that thewind farm will be built by private-sectorcompanies through international loans but willbelong to the NREA.

Kenya LaunchesLake Turkana Wind FarmKenya took a step closer to achieving its goal of100% green energy by 2020 with the unveilingof the continent’s largest wind power plant. Thefarm consists of 365 wind turbines on the shoresof Lake Turkana.

Currently, an estimated 70% of Kenya’s powergeneration comes from renewable energy sources,the majority of which is hydropower andgeothermal. The Lake Turkana wind farm willboost Kenya’s power generating capacity by 13%.“Today, we again raised the bar for the continentas we unveil Africa’s single largest wind farm,”said President Uhuru Kenyatta at the launch ofthe wind farm. “Kenya is without doubt on courseto be a global leader in renewable energy.”

Kenyatta, who has announced plans to move thecountry to 100% green energy by 2020, said thenew power from the $775-million wind farmwould help the government reach its goals ofensuring housing, health care, jobs and foodsecurity to all citizens.

“Today marks an important milestone in thecountry’s steady march towards achieving self-sufficiency in power production,” said MugoKibati, chairman of Lake Turkana Wind Power,a private consortium that runs the facility.

Repsol to Develop 800 MWof New Renewable Energy ProjectsRepsol will develop three renewable energyprojects – two wind farms and a solar power plantwith a combined installed capacity of 800 MW– as part of its commitment to an efficient andsustainable energy transition. These acquisitionsrepresent a significant step in Repsol’s strategicobjective of strengthening its positioning as alow-emissions energy operator in a business witha high potential for organic growth andprofitability.

This development adds two wind projects – onelocated in Zaragoza and the other betweenPalencia and Valladolid – and a photovoltaicpower plant in Cadiz, which will be developedand start production in the coming four years.Their combined output from the 794 MW capacityis enough to supply the annual needs of about650,000 homes.

With these projects, combined with the Valdesolar(Badajoz) and WindFloat (Portugal) projects andits current assets (2,952 MW), Repsol will haveachieved 90% of its strategic objective of operating4,500 MW of low-emissions generation in 2025.

The new renewable projects already have landsecured as well as a guaranteed connection to theelectricity transport network. The energy theygenerate will supply the company’s existing clientportfolio, which currently totals 890,000 clients(a 19% increase from the start of the businesseight months ago), as well as new users.

CONCO to Build Swaziland Solar PlantConsolidated Infrastructure Group (CONCO),out of South Africa, won a $16 million contractto build a 10-MW solar plant in Swaziland. Thewin comes from a successful bid in aninternational tender launched by the governmentof Swaziland a few months ago.

The solar plant will move Swaziland one stepcloser to its goal of weaning itself off itsdependence on South Africa’s Eskom for itspower needs. Currently the Kingdom of Swazilandimports 80% of its power needs from neighboringSouth Africa.

The country launched, at the beginning of 2019,a call for tenders for the construction of a 40 MWsolar park and plans to produce 100% of its ownelectricity consumption by 2034.

Ghana to Conduct FeasibilityStudies on Nuclear EnergyThe government of Ghana has put a team in placeto conduct preliminary studies and collect data

for its planned nuclear program. The governmentplans to add nuclear to the country’s energy mixover the next 10-15 years.

It has also launched an awareness campaign toinform its citizens on the benefits of nuclearenergy. The nine-person team was named“Nuclear Power Ghana” and will be in charge ofcoordinating the entire nuclear program.

Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, the Minister ofEnvironment, Science, Technology and Innovationsaid that other nuclear powers such as China,France, Russia and the US were willing to aidthe country in achieving its ambitions.

Nigeria NeedsN3.6 Trillion for Power SupplyAccording to electricity distribution companies(Discos) in Nigeria, it will take not less than N36trillion to ensure a stable power supply in thecountry. The Discos said the investments will beneeded over a period of 20 years.

The Discos disclosed that the investments willinclude N3.6 trillion in distribution networks overthe next five years. The entire power supplyvalue chain of the Discos, according to them,will also take about N14.4 trillion over the nexttwo decades.

According to a November 2018 edition of theMonthly Business Expectations Survey Reportof the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), insufficientpower supply is the most compelling factor thatconstrains businesses in the West African Nation.

Similarly, research by the World Bank revealed“that power outages and deficient powerinfrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa had ameasurable negative impact on economic growthover the period of 1995-2007.”

JUMEME CelebratesLake Victoria Mini-Grid LaunchJUMEME Rural Power Supply Ltd. (JUMEME),together with the European Union Delegation inTanzania and its project partners, launched thenewly constructed solar-powered mini-grid onLake Victoria, Mulumo Island in the region ofKagera. The facility in Mulumo is one of 11 mini-grids to be commissioned on 10 different islandson Lake Victoria in June 2019, constituting thefirst roll-out phase of the “Micro Power Economy,Tanzania Roll-out” project co-funded by the EU.

Over the last 12 months, JUMEME hasconstructed more than 180 km of low and mediumvoltage distribution grids, electrifying 20 villageswith a total population of more than 80,000

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people and providing 24/7 electricity servicesbased on solar-hybrid power systems to residentialhouses, schools, hospitals, businesses and localentrepreneurs.

JUMEME aims to build and operate solar-hybridmini-grids in remote settlements of Tanzania witha total budget of €16 million. The project is co-funded by the European Union Energy Facilityfor a total amount of €7.4 million. The RuralEnergy Agency (REA), through its result-basedfinancing scheme, has also provided grant fundingto the project, whereas the shareholders ofJUMEME have contributed with equity.

Having run a pilot system on Ukara island since2016, JUMEME will now operate the 11additional minigrids spread across Lake Victoriaon the islands of Goziba, Kerebe, Kasenyi,Mulumo, Rukuba, Kibumba, Maisome, Mahaiga,and Irugwa. In parallel to the first roll out phase,the construction of an additional 11 mini-grids,located on the shores of Lake Tanganyika isunderway. These additional mini-grids are alsoco-financed by the European Union and will befinalized at the beginning of 2020, makingJUMEME the energy service provider to morethan 170,000 people.

Offshore and MarineOwners Offered New Deal to go GreenAn innovative finance deal that will allow offshoreand marine asset owners to reduce their fuelconsumption, costs and emissions has beenlaunched. Blueday Technology, which designsand installs integrated energy systems for energy,marine and maritime customers, has teamed upwith sustainable energy infrastructure fundmanager SUSI Partners to offer a new financingstructure for asset owners.

Fifty million euro is now available for BluedayTechnology clients to install integrated energysystems. The scheme removes the biggest obstaclestanding in the way of asset owners installinghybrid energy systems: the need for a significant,upfront capital investment.

Asset owners and operators in the oil and gas,drilling rig, maritime, aquaculture and shorepower sectors could all benefit from the new deal.Hans-Petter Heggebø, CEO of Blueday

Technology, said: “The offshore and marineindustries are facing financial pressures at a timewhen their emissions and carbon footprints arecoming under scrutiny.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for owners andoperators to reduce operating expenditure andemissions while future-proofing their assets.

“Blueday Technology is at the forefront of hybridtechnology. Our SMART hybrid solutions keepassets running at peak efficiency and customersreport a return on investment within two years.

“We know that cash pressure is one of the mainbarriers to installing our systems and future-proofing assets – we’ve now solved that problemfor owners and operators through our agreementwith SUSI Partners.”

Under the new arrangement, asset owners andoperators who want to install hybrid energysystems will face no upfront costs; instead, theywill pay a monthly fee.

Gustavo Coito, Director in SUSI Partners’investment team, said: “We are delighted to partnerup with Blueday to deliver a combined solutionto asset owners and operators, allowing foreconomic and environmental benefits whileremoving the key hurdle faced with when decidingto go electric.”

Zimbabwe PlansSolar Panel Manufacturing FacilityChina’s Yaowei Technology plans to set up asolar panel plant in Zimbabwe to produce around500 solar panels per day. Once launched, it ishoped that the project will reduce the energydeficit facing the country because of thedependence on hydropower.

Currently, the high cost of imported solarequipment makes this type of energy technologyinaccessible.

“About one hectare of land will be enough to setup the first phase of the project. Zimbabwe needsinvestment in research to make the opportunitiesavailable in its economic sectors available,” saidCheng Hangjian, director of Yaowei Technology.The country is currently facing an energy deficit

of 1,000 MW, due to the reduced production ofthe Kariba dam, which supplies almost half ofthe energy consumed in the country.

Alten CommissionsSolar Plant in NamibiaAlten Energías Renovables official lycommissioned Namibia’s largest solarpower plant, with a generation capacity of 45.5MWp. The plant, located in the south of thecountry, is a JV between Alten, state-owned powercompany NamPower and Namibian solarcompanies Mangrove, Talyeni and First PlaceInvestment.

The southern African nation is a net importer ofelectricity and is promoting solar to reduce itsdependence on domestic hydroelectricity andpower imports from neighboring South Africa,Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Isabel Saracho, communication and marketingadviser at Alten Energías Renovables in Madrid,told PV Magazine the new plant will be productivebecause of the location’s extremely highirradiation levels.

“[The] Alten Solar Power Hardap PV Plant is thelargest photovoltaic solar power plant in Namibia,”confirmed Saracho. The project occupies 100hectares and will generate enough electricity topower 70,000 residents, she added.

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FACTS AND FIGURESSo

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GE

*Data not available

Vari

ous

sour

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incl

udin

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IA, I

EA

and

OPE

C

Country

African Rig Count

AlgeriaAngolaBeninCameroonChadCongoCongo (DRC)Cote D’IvoireDjiboutiEgyptEquatorial GuineaEthiopiaGabonGhanaGuineaKenyaLiberiaLibyaMauritaniaMoroccoMozambiqueNamibiaNigerNigeriaSenegalSierra LeoneSouth AfricaSudan*TanzaniaTogoTunisiaUganda

2019

5150273112

240263070

1501001

1400000020

May

* Based on secondary sources

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PEC

Country

OPEC Oil Production

AlgeriaAngolaCongoEcuadorEquatorial GuineaGabonIran, I.R.IraqKuwaitLibyaNigeriaSaudi ArabiaUAEVenezuelaTOTAL OPECOPEC exluding Iraq

10051418331528113208

2225471826901113185598133083734

2983025112

June

(Thousand Barrels/Day*)

Country

Africa Productionof Crude Oil

AlgeriaAngolaCameroonChadCongo (Brazzaville)Congo (Kinshasa)Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast)

EgyptEquatorial GuineaGabonGhanaLibyaMauritaniaMoroccoNiger NigeriaSouth AfricaSudan and South SudanTunisiaTotal Africa

10051418

751203312026

650113208123

11130

0.520

18552.517048

7298

June

(including Lease Condensate, Thousand Barrels/Day)

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EA

Oil

Mar

ket R

epor

t

Country

AmericasCanadaChileMexicoUnited StatesAsia OceaniaAustraliaOthersEuropeNorwayUKOthersTotal OECDTotal Non OECD

24.335.250.011.9

17.170.490.410.073.1

1.491.140.47

27.9131.39

June

World Oil Production(million barrels per day)

2019

2019

2019

5250273112

250273080

1501001

1400000020

April

4550273102

220263070

1501001

1400000020

June

10291474326530112214

2367474527101170172696873060750

2989825153

May

10131413335528110186

2554463026971176181997423060768

3003125531

April

24.295.3

0.011.91

17.060.480.410.073.171.61.1

0.4727.9431.05

May

23.764.930.011.93

16.890.470.4

0.063.381.731.170.48

27.6131.05

April

10291474

751183262026

650112214122

11700

0.520

17262.517249

7306

May

10131413

751113351927

650110186124

11760

0.520

18192.518849

7318

April



International Rig CountsAREA Last Count

USCANADAINTERNATIONAL

Count Change FromPrior Count

Date ofPrior Count

Change fromLast Year

Date of LastYear’s Count

Aug 2, 2019Aug 2, 2019June, 2019

942137

1,138

-41012

July 26, 2019July 26, 2019

May, 2019

-102-86179

Aug 3, 2018Aug 3, 2018June, 2018

706968676665646362616059585756555453525150

July 03Henry HubNew York







2.292.26

2.412.41

2.542.43

2.442.27

2.332.29

2.332.20

2.232.15

Dollars per BTU

Dat

a co

mpi

led

by P

etro

leum

Afr

ica

from

var

ious

sour

ces i

nclu

ding

OPE

C, E

IA a

nd o

ther

s

July 08OPEC BasketBrent CrudeNymex







$64.7264.8957.76

66.1066.4160.52

66.7966.8659.68

64.6063.6756.92

64.2761.9656.22

64.5863.8355.88

64.0262.4656.20

OPEC Basket Brent Crude Nymex

Oil Prices

Gas PricesSpot Price Futures Price*

2.25

3.00

2.00

2.50

2.75

July

15

July

17

July

24

July

26

July

22

July

08

July

10

$

July

12

July

17

July

24

July

26

July

22

July

03

July

09

July

12

July

17

July

24

July

26

July

22

July

03

July

09

July

15

July

17

July

24

July

26

July

22

July

08

July

10

July

15

July

17

July

24

July

26

July

22

July

08

July

10


CONFERENCES

AD INDEXAMETradeAfrica Oil & PowerADIPECAfrica Energy NetAlternative Energy AfricaAMI InternationalCWC GroupDreg Waters Petroleum & LogisticsEquip Global

57IFC, 41, IBC

1329, 5135, 47

919, 27

4321

LayherNavingoOil & Gas EurasiaPetroleum AfricaSPE InternationalSpintelligentSpire EventsWPC

BC3324

15, 17, 417

3739

5

OCTOBER 2019

9-11 Cape Town, South Africa www.africaoilandpower.comAOP 2019 (Africa Oil & Power)

NOVEMBER 2019

26-27 Malabo, Equatorial Guinea www.yearofenergy2019.comGECF 5th Gas Summit

DECEMBER 2019

4-5 London, UK www.ami.internationalOil & Gas Non-Metallics 2019

1-3 Brazzaville, Congo www.ametrade.orgCongo International Oil & Conference and Exhibition (CIEHC 2019)

7-9 Amsterdam, The Netherlands www.offshore-energy.bizOffshore Energy Exhibition & Conference

10-11 Accra, Ghana www.ametrade.org3rd Africa Oil & Gas Local Content & Sustainability Summit

15-17 Alexandria, Egypt www.moc-egypt.comMOC 2019 (Mediterranean Offshore Conference & Exhibition)

11-14 Maputo, Mozambique www.mozambique-gas-summit.comMozambique Gas Summit

29-29 Central London, UK www.spe.orgSPE Upstream Finance and Investments Conference

10-11 Bahrain www.bbtc-mena.bizBBTC MENA 2019 – Bottom of the Barrel Technology Conference

10-12 Muscat, Oman www.mealf.net9th Middle East Artificial Lift Forum (MEALF 2019)

MARCH 202015-18 Oran, Algeria www.napec-dz.comNAPEC - North Africa Petroleum Exhibition & Conference

2-3 Dar es Salaam, Tanzania www.cwctog.comTanzania Oil & Gas 2019 (TOG 2019)

7-8 Abu Dhabi, UAE www.interventionmena.offsnetevents.comOffshore Well Intervention MENA 2019

8-8 London, UK www.diversityenergysummit.comDiversity in Energy Summit

29-31 Cape Town, South Africa www.ssapower.com5th Annual Southern Africa Power Summit 2019

11-14 Abu Dhabi, UAR www.adipec.comADIPEC 2019

2-4 Kinshasa, DRC www.drcoilandgas.comDRC Power, Oil and Gas Conference & Exhibition

2-3 Nouakchott, Mauritania www.cwcmauritania.comMauritania Future Energy

APRIL 202022-22 Bergen, Norway www.spe.orgSPE Norway One Day Seminar

DECEMBER 20206-10 Houston, TX www.wpc2020.comWorld Petroleum Congress

2-5 Yenagoa, Nigeria www.cwcpnc.com9th Annual Practical Nigerian Content (PNC) Forum

2-3 Dakar, Senegal www.res-west.comRegional Energy Summit: West Africa

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