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The Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy and GEPetrol have signed a production-sharing contract (PSC) with ExxonMobil for Block EG-06, offshore Bioko Island, after lengthy negotiations. Block EG-06 lies immediately to the north of Ophir Energy’s Block R and adjacent to the border with Nigeria. It comprises the area formerly covered by blocks D-8, D-9, C-9, C-10 (part), C-11 (part), B-10 and B-11 (part). The PSC is subject to ratification by the government. ExxonMobil has been in Equatorial Guinea since 1995 and holds 71.25% in Block B, offshore Bioko Island, which contains the giant Zafiro oil field. GEPetrol holds a 23.75% interest and the state holds the remaining 5%. In December 2014, production from the Zafiro field exceeded 1bn barrels.

Ophir Energy has given Australia’s WorleyParsons a contract to provide engineering and project management services for the Fortuna project on Block R, as well as a master services agreement to provide engineering support to any of Ophir’s worldwide assets. Ophir plans to develop Block R’s gas reserves through a 3m t/yr floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility – which could be Africa’s first floating LNG project, provided it starts up before other projects mooted for Cameroon, Mozambique and elsewhere. WorleyParsons and its specialist deep-water division Intecsea will oversee the front-end engineering design scopes and tendering

PA Resources’ Equatorial Guinea subsidiary Osborne Resources has been transferred to the company’s largest shareholder Gunvor Group, after Gunvor sought repayment of sums due under its reserve based lending (RBL) facility. On 7 April, PA Resources said it had been told by Gunvor that it would not participate in the troubled company’s refinancing process and wanted repayment of the $84m plus accrued interest outstanding under the RBL facility. The RBL was secured by Osborne, which owns shares in the producing Aseng and Alen fields and exploration in Block I.

The Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy has announced that CNOOC has discovered hydrocarbons in the S-3 exploration well on Block S. The ministry said the discovery was made in the Cretaceous Santonian interval. The operator is evaluating the results to assess commerciality. The S-3 well was drilled in October-November 2014 to a total depth of 3,768 metres, in a water depth of 905 metres. It is located about 2km south of the G-13-1 oil discovery drilled by Triton in 2001, and 2km west of the G-13-2 oil discovery drilled by Triton in 2003.

France’s Alstom Hydro has been awarded a contract by Duglas Alliance, part of Ukraine’s Dorado Alliance, to supply equipment for the 200MW Sendje hydropower plant, located on the Wele River, 40km from Bata. Alstom will provide four 50MW Francis turbines, four generators, four regulation systems, four excitation systems and a control system to the facility, which is expected to begin operating in mid-2017. The company will also supervise installation and commissioning. Ground breaking at the site took place in February 2012.

Ophir Energy signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 6 November with Excelerate Energy, GEPetrol and the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy for a planned floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project on Block R. Excelerate will be appointed as the lead in a consortium of floating liquefaction and storage technology providers expected to include Samsung Heavy Industries and Black & Veatch.It will be Africa’s first floating LNG project, and will gain a market advantage by coming on stream sooner than planned schemes in Tanzania and Mozambique

Ophir Energy has signed an agreement on gas fiscal terms with the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy, paving the way for development of Block R (AE 285/17). Minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima told Global Pacific & Partners’ Africa Oil Week in Cape Town on 4 November that detailed discussions on development would now take place. Nguema Lima said the block contained 3.4tcf of recoverable gas, which would be produced via a 20-well development in four phases, to a floating liquefied natural gas vessel with capacity of 3m t/yr, which will be Africa’s first FLNG project.

Ophir Energy has announced a successful drill stem test (DST) on the Fortuna-2 well on Block R. The Fortuna field is expected to form the first phase of a planned floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) development. The DST achieved a sustained flow rate of 60mcf/d with a drawdown of less than 20psi at the reservoir. However this rate was surface equipment constrained, and based on the expected operating conditions of the FLNG facility, Ophir estimates it could deliver 180mcf/d via the 5” drill pipe used for the DST.

Ophir Energy has announced a gas discovery with the Silenus East-1 well in Block R and has expanded the size of its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to 3m t/yr from 2.5m t/yr. The Silenus East-1 well was drilled by the Vantage Titanium Explorer drillship within the thrust belt area of Block R. Ophir is planning to produce gas from the block via a floating LNG (FLNG) scheme. “The Silenus East well result has confirmed sufficient incremental volumes for Ophir to be able to expand the Block R FLNG project from a 2.5m t/yr to a 3.0m t/yr project. This is important in that it provides economies of scale that increase the value of this already economic project,” said chief executive Nick Cooper.

The Malabo government announced on 5 August that it had signed a joint financing agreement with BG Group and state gas company Sonagas for two projects using natural gas in the local economy. One project will convert a 24MW power plant in Bata, on the mainland, to run on gas. The other is “developing a fleet of 20 natural-gas powered buses and fuelling stations to operate between Equatorial Guinea’s two largest cities”, BG Group external communications manager Kim Blomley told African Energy. Other than saying “we have committed to jointly fund the construction”, Blomley gave no more details about the projects and their timelines.

The Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy plans to open a licensing round on 1 July offering all the country’s open acreage. Ten blocks will be offered for competitive bidding and four blocks adjacent to existing discoveries will be offered via direct negotiation.

The government has contracted US company MAECI Solar, in collaboration with GE Power & Water and Princeton Power Systems, to install a 5MW solar microgrid system on Annobon Island. The microgrid will provide electricity for the island’s 5,000 residents using GE’s battery-based energy storage system, which is designed to withstand the high temperatures on the island. The project is being led by MAECI Solar, which is providing the solar modules and system integration. US firm Princeton Power will be responsible for the energy management system and controls.

Ministers from Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Ghana signed a protocol of agreement on 16 May creating a framework under which all three countries will work together to explore the possibility of establishing a jointly owned regional gas company. ‘All three countries are cognisant of the benefits that would be derived from the regional gas company, including new revenue streams from the sale of hitherto unexploited natural gas, creation of new jobs, and facilitating access to gas by power plants, industries and homes that need them as a source of energy or feedstock,” Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy said in a statement.

Teodorin Nguema Obiang, son of President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, has been put under formal investigation in France for money laundering. French police have been investigating allegations that Teodorin, whose official titles are agriculture minister and second vice-president, embezzled public funds to buy real estate and other assets in France. He has denied this, saying his wealth came legitimately through successful business dealings. In June 2013, a French court rejected a bid by Equatorial Guinea to get the preliminary probe annulled; a few months earlier, another court ruled that the Catholic Committee Against Hunger and for Development NGO did not libel President Obiang in a 2009 report.

As Ophir Energy weighs options for development of its Block R gas, the company has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Petrofac to act as development operator up to the final investment decision. This role is expected to include preparing and issuing a field development plan for the project, and co-ordinating the upstream and midstream elements. Ophir has also held discussions with a number of floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel providers. The company said it had received several proposals, a number of which have been shortlisted for further assessment with non-binding letters of intent signed on 20 February in Singapore.