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Kosmos Energy has signed an agreement for Block C-6, which is adjacent to its existing Block C-12. The block was previously licensed to Tullow Oil, which pulled out in 2014. The Zoulé-1 well in Q4 05, and the Gharabi-1 well Q1 11 were both dry. Tullow had planned to drill a commitment well on the Sidewinder prospect as part of a four-well drilling programme, but instead opted to pull out as a cost-saving measure. Kosmos signed an agreement for the block during the Mauritanides mining, oil and gas conference in Nouakchott in mid-October.

The Mauritanian and Senegalese governments see the deep-water Senegal River Basin’s reserves as offering potential feedstock for future gas-to-power schemes, as well as supplying the floating liquefaction plant planned by Kosmos and other international oil companies (IOCs) to export gas. This would provide an economic boost that officials have told African Energy outweighs any political tensions between the two countries. Moves to implement an inter-governmental co-operation agreement (IGCA), which would allow the two countries to commercialise their gas, are being “driven from the top” by Mauritanian President Mohammed Ould Abdelaziz and Senegalese President Macky Sall.

Premier Oil has confirmed plans to shut down the Chinguetti field by year-end, saying operator Petronas submitted an abandonment and decommissioning plan to the government on 29 June. Output has declined steadily due to natural decline from the existing wells, and the field is no longer economic at the current low oil price. Chinguetti started up in 2003, but proved more geologically complex and less productive than anticipated. Gross production in 2015 averaged 5,083 b/d, compared to 5,512 b/d in 2014. No infill drilling or workover activity took place on the field during 2015.

The governments of Mauritania and Senegal have agreed on an offshore site about 8km from the coast on the maritime boundary as the location for gas processing and liquefaction facilities for the Tortue development. A statement from Mauritania’s oil, energy and mines ministry said minister Mohamed Salem Ould Bechir and his Senegalese counterpart, Thierno Alassane Sall, had discussed the project by telephone on 9 June.

Chariot Oil & Gas has decided to relinquish the C-19 licence offshore Mauritania, but has converted the Mohammedia reconnaissance licence offshore Morocco into exploration permits. Chariot will have a 75% interest and operatorship of the Mohammedia Offshore exploration permits I-III, in partnership with the Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines, which holds a 25% carried interest. Chariot said it had decided not to enter into the first renewal phase of the C-19 licence after failing to find a farm-in partner.

Kosmos Energy has announced another gas discovery with the Teranga-1 exploration well in Senegal’s Cayar Offshore Profond Block. The well was drilled to a total depth of 4,485 metres in nearly 1,800 metres of water and encountered 31 metres of gas pay in the Lower Cenomanian objective. “Well results confirm that a prolific inboard gas fairway extends approximately 200km from the Marsouin-1 well in Mauritania through the Greater Tortue area on the maritime boundary to the Teranga-1 well in Senegal,” Kosmos said.

Kosmos has raised its reserves estimate for the Greater Tortue Complex to more than 20tcf from 17tcf following the successful Ahmeyim-2 appraisal well. The rig will now move to drill the oil-focused Teranga-1 exploration well in the Cayar Offshore Profond Block in Senegalese waters. Ahmeyim-2 was drilled to a total depth of 5,200 metres offshore Mauritania and penetrated the gas-water contacts in the Lower Cenomanian and Albian, defining the field limit and extending the productive field area from approximately 50km2 to 90km2.

Sterling Energy has opted to withdraw from offshore Block C-3, assigning its 40.5% stake to Tullow Oil at no cost. The company, which farmed into the block in February 2015, said the 2D seismic data had “not sufficiently derisked the block potential” to justify entering the next exploration phase, which involves 700km2 of 3D seismic and a well, but it remained committed to the adjacent Block C-10, where it farmed in in June. A well is planned on C-10 in 2017.

The Agence Française de Développement is financing a turnkey contract for the supply, installation and commissioning of units with combined generating capacity of 30MW at Zouerate. Société Nationale Industrielle et Minière de Mauritanie (Snim), the recipient of the funds, has begun prequalification of companies with submissions due by 24 December. The request for proposals is expected to be issued by 1 March 2016.

Kosmos Energy has found more gas offshore Mauritania with its Marsouin-1 exploration well in the northern part of Block C-8. Marsouin-1 encountered at least 70 metres of net gas pay in Upper and Lower Cenomanian intervals comprised of excellent quality reservoir sands. The well was drilled in nearly 2,400 metres of water, 60km north of the basin-opening Tortue-1 gas discovery, now renamed Ahmeyim. “Marsouin-1 is our second major discovery of 2015, extending our 100% success rate in the outboard Cretaceous petroleum system offshore Mauritania and Senegal.

Kosmos Energy is drilling a second well offshore Mauritania, with results expected in the middle of Q4. The Dallas-based company said in an operational update that the Marsouin-1 well on Block C8 spudded on 28 August. The well is located some 60km north of the basin-opening Tortue-1 well in a water depth of 2,400 metres and is designed to test a four-way trap with multiple stacked targets, including Lower Cenomanian, Albian and Aptian formations. It is targeting 300mboe of gas and liquids, and Kosmos plans up to seven exploration and appraisal wells over the next 18 months.

The government is seeking to recruit legal and transaction advisers to revive the Banda gas-to-power project, with funding from the World Bank. The project consists of the offshore Banda gas field, a 180MW power plant and a 120MW second phase extension, as well as transmission infrastructure to supply power within Mauritania and to Senegal and Mali. The government says the field’s 590bcf of proven reserves are enough to supply 60mcf/d for 20 years. Of the total 300MW to be generated, some 60% will be exported and 40% will be reserved for domestic consumption.

After announcing a “world class” gas find in May, Kosmos Energy has found more gas deeper in the Tortue discovery, which has been renamed Ahmeyim at the government’s request. In addition to the 107 metres of pay found in the primary Cenomanian target, the well intersected ten metres in the lower Albian section. Chevron has an option to take a 30% stake in Ahmeyim, which has opened a new outboard Cretaceous petroleum system offshore Mauritania and northern Senegal.

The United Nations Development Programme is seeking a consultant to draw up environmental standards for the operations of the oil and gas industry in the country. Bids are due by 1 June. Contact: UNDP, 203, Rue 42-133, Ilot K lots 159-161, Route de la Corniche, BP 620 Nouakchott, Mauritania. Tel: +222 45 25 24 09. Fax: +222 45 25 26 16. Email: [email protected]

Kosmos Energy has said its Tortue-1 discovery well has opened a new outboard play on its acreage offshore Mauritania and northern Senegal, but it is too early to say how the gas might be developed. Kosmos, which in 2007 drilled the Mahogany-1 discovery well that found the Jubilee field offshore Ghana, said the well had tested the Tortue West prospect, part of the Greater Tortue complex. Kosmos estimates reserves in Tortue West at between 5tcf and 12tcf, with a mean resource of 8tcf, while for the Greater Tortue complex, which extends into northern Senegal, it estimates the resource potential at between 6tcf and 22tcf.