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Angola’s Petroplus Overseas plans to drill this year on the offshore Hyembe Block, close to Port-Gentil. The company signed two contracts in Gabon in 2011 that were confirmed by presidential decree last year. The company said in a news release that Hyembe contained 80m barrels of recoverable reserves in an area of 2,000km2. The company also has the Espadon/Roussette licence, which covers 4km2, to the west of Port-Gentil, containing an estimated 24m barrels of recoverable oil. Exploratory drilling is scheduled for 2015, Petroplus said.

Ophir Energy has begun drilling the Padouck Deep-1 well on the Ntsina Block using the Vantage Titanium Explorer drillship. Ophir said Padouck Deep was the first well targeting the pre-salt play offshore in the North Gabon basin. The well is located in a water depth of 835 metres and has a planned total depth of 3,500 metres sub-sea. Operations are expected to take approximately 45 days. Ophir is operator, but its share of the well cost is largely carried by partners Petrobras and OMV, although the Austrian company’s farm-in announced on 18 December is still subject to government approval.

The World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has agreed to provide further funding to Vaalco Gabon in the form of a $65m reserve-based loan facility. The $50m senior loan and $15m subordinate tranche will help fund the construction of two new platforms and associated facilities to increase production from the Etame Marin offshore block. The programme aims to increase production to a level close to capacity of the project’s floating production, storage and offloading vessel. Construction of two new platforms is under way, with one expected to be installed in the Etame field and the second to be installed between the Southeast Etame and North Tchibala fields in H2 2014.

Sinopec subsidiary Addax Petroleum has successfully resolved its multimillion dollar legal dispute with the government of Gabon, signing a new production-sharing contract for the Tsiengui, Obangue and Autour oil fields. Addax said the agreement “marks the beginning of a new mutually beneficial partnership for the next ten years”. Following an audit of its hydrocarbons sector, in January 2013 the government rescinded Addax’s licence for its 9,000 b/d Obangue field, citing “bad management, instances of corruption, various environmental faults and having exported large quantities of oil without paying taxes”, transferring operations of the area to the newly created Gabon Oil Company.

Following a $1.29bn farmout deal in Tanzania in November, Ophir has farmed down stakes in four deep-water blocks offshore Gabon to Austria’s OMV ahead of a drilling programme due to start in February. OMV will acquire 30% non-operated interests in the Manga and Gnondo blocks and 10% non-operated interests in the Mbeli and Ntsina blocks. Ophir will retain 70% in Manga and Gnondo and 40% in Mbeli and Ntsina. OMV will pay past costs and a share of the well costs on the Padouck Deep, Affanga Deep and Okala wells, in addition to the cost of two additional wells and of planned 3D seismic surveys across the blocks.

Oil minister Etienne Ngoubou has announced the award of 13 blocks following talks with a shortlist of bidders in Libreville on 28-29 October. Ophir Energy was awarded blocks A-3, A-4, A-5 and A-6, Impact won D-14, Marathon E-12 and Perenco E-14. A consortium of Repsol and ExxonMobil was awarded E-13, Elenilto and Petronas took F-12, ExxonMobil and Noble Energy took C-11, Petronas and Eni took F-13, Perenco and Petronas F-14, and Marathon and Cobalt G-13. The other 30 blocks on offer were not awarded. Companies had applied for licences for 18 blocks from a total of 43 available. 


GABON: Grand Poubara dam start-up. China’s Sinohydro has brought on stream the Grand Poubara hydro plant on the Ogooué River. The dam has an installed capacity of 160MW, from four 40MW turbines. The project also includes two transmission lines, one to Franceville, Gabon’s third largest city, 15km from the project site, the other to the manganese mining region of Moanda. A second phase is planned to increase capacity to 280MW. Two other hydro projects are under construction, Chutes de l’Impératrice on the Ogooué River, and Fe2 on the Okano River (AE 245/1). 
 


Houston-based Harvest Natural Resources is in exclusive talks with Vitol to sell its 66.667% operated stake in the Dussafu Marine permit for $137m. Harvest has been carrying out subsurface and development planning studies for Tortue and other discoveries on the permit, and said in August that its favoured development option was a floating production, storage and offloading vessel close to Tortue, with subsea tiebacks to the Ruche and Walt Whitman fields.

Ophir Energy has secured a rig for a West African drilling campaign to start in February in Gabon. It has agreed heads of terms for a deep-water drillship for six firm wells plus additional contingent slots. The programme will start in early February with the 1bn barrel Padouck Deep pre-salt prospect on Gabon’s Ntsina Block, followed by the Affanga Deep prospect on the Gnondo Block, then the pre-salt Okala prospect on the Mbeli Block.

Total Gabon has made a first discovery in Gabon’s new pre-salt play with the Diaman #1B well on the Diaba Block (AE 253/12). The well was drilled to a total depth of 5,585 metres, and encountered 50-55 metres of net hydrocarbons in the target pre-salt formations, which Total’s partner Cobalt International said were thought to be gas and condensate. The well was drilled in 1,729 metres of water, more than 100km from the nearest commercial pre-salt discovery.

Vaalco Energy said on 24 June that an exploration appraisal well drilled to evaluate an untested fault block on the south-west flank of the Ebouri field encountered water in the Gamba reservoir and the Dentale formation, and will be abandoned. The KCA Deutag Ben Rinnes rig will move to a site north of the Etame field to drill an exploration well on the Ovoka prospect. The well will be drilled in 60 metres of water to a depth of 2,700 metres to evaluate the Gamba reservoir and the underlying Lucina formation. Ovoka is estimated to hold recoverable reserves of more than 30m barrels of oil.

China’s Sinopec has started commercial development of the Akondo oilfield offshore Gabon. The company said in a statement it had begun engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning work with exclusive development rights granted by the government. Sinopec will invest $107m for the construction of a 200,000 t/yr crude processing plant and 58.6km pipeline. Sinopec started exploration work in 2005 on the Akondo oilfield, which lies about 45km north-east of Port Gentil.

Swiss oil trader Gunvor Group has signed an agreement with the Gabon government to create an oil products trading company to supply the West African coast. The agreement, signed during the New York Forum Africa in Libreville on 14-16 June, will create an oil products trading hub based in Port Gentil.

Harvest Natural Resources has announced plans to farm down “a significant portion” of its 66.667% stake in the Dussafu Block. Following the drilling of the Dussafu Tortue Marin-1 exploration well, which discovered oil in the Gamba and Dentale formations, studies are under way to evaluate the commerciality of Tortue and other oil discoveries to determine the best development options. Harvest is also planning 3D seismic over the outboard portion of the block to better define exploration prospects identified on 2D seismic.

Following its recent farm-out in Morocco, Pura Vida Energy is seeking a partner for the offshore Nkembe Block. The Australian company, which acquired 80% in the block in January, said it was interpreting existing 3D seismic data and expected to release resource estimates in July. In August, it will open a data room with the aim of finding a partner to fund new 3D seismic acquisition and drilling.