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OFFICIAL: co-venturers on Block 2913b confirm Venus discovery offshore Namibia

The Maersk Voyager was mobilised for the drilling campaign at Venus-1. Picture: Maersk Drilling.

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TotalEnergies, who has a 40% operated interest in block 2913b within Petroleum Exploration Licence (PEL) 56, has confirmed that it has made a major light oil discovery at the Venus-1X well. The discovery was also officially confirmed this morning by its co-venturers Impact Oil & Gas and Namibia’s state-owned oil company NAMCOR.

Venus was one of the most anticipated well in the world last year and was spudded in December 2021. Rumours have been circulating for a week now that a massive discovery has been made, with a potential find of well over 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent.

While no official confirmation has been given yet on the size of the discovery, Impact Oil & Gas has announced that the find contains light oil and associated gas and constitutes a world-class discovery that exceeded pre-drill expectations.

““A comprehensive coring and logging program has been completed and will enable the preparation of appraisal operations designed to assess the commerciality of this discovery,” said Kevin McLachlan, Senior Vice President Exploration at TotalEnergies. 

The discovery lies in the deep-waters of the Orange Basin in southern Namibia, where Shell also announced this month an oil discovery at the Graff-1 well on PEL 39.

“The Venus well was drilled to a total depth of 6,296 metres by the Maersk Voyager drillship, and encountered a high-quality, light oil-bearing sandstone reservoir of Lower Cretaceous age, with 84 metres of net oil pay,” Impact Oil & Gas said.

Block 2913b is operated by TotalEnergies EP Namibia B.V (40%) along with its partners QatarEnergy (30%), Impact Oil and Gas Namibia (20%), and Namcor (10%). Details on the block are available in the Hawilti+ research terminal.

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Seplat Energy to triple in size as it proposes to acquire Mobil Producing Nigeria for $1.283 bn

Officialising a transaction that has been in the making for some time, Seplat Energy has announced this morning its proposed cash acquisition of Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPNU) for $1.283bn. Seplat Energy Offshore Ltd, a subsidiary of Seplat Energy, has now entered into the Sale and Purchase Agreement to acquire the entire share capital of MPNU from Exxon Mobil Corporation. The purchase price is set at $1.283bn plus up to $300m contingent consideration, subject to lockbox, working capital and other adjustments. While Seplat expects the transaction to close in the second half of this year, it is still subject to Ministerial Consent and regulatory approvals from the NUPRC and the Nigerian Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. Acquired assets By acquiring MPNU, Seplat Energy takes over Exxon Mobil’s entire offshore shallow water business in Nigeria which includes assets that are very rich in natural gas and gas liquids. The acquisition would increase Seplat Energy’s production by a whooping +186% while increasing its total 2P reserves by +89%. The total portfolio includes a 40% operating ownership of OMLs 67, 68, 70 and 104 and their associated infrastructure. Combined, the assets produced an average of 177,000 boepd gross in 2021 according to NUPRC data. OMLs 67, 68 and 70 form what is known in Nigeria as the “East Area”, where ExxonMobil has executed some of the most successful flaring reduction and valorization projects in the Niger Delta. Such developments notably included the Oso natural gas liquids (NGL) plant commissioned in 1998, and its expansion with the NGL II project in 2008. Both projects also provide gas to the Bonny River Terminal, enabling production of key commodities such as LPG for the domestic and export markets. Last year, the Bonny River Terminal provided some 70,000 metric tonnes of LPG to the local market for instance, making it Nigeria’s second biggest source of domestic LPG supply. On the other side, OML 104 contains the producing Yoho field. The shallow water Yoho development project came on stream in early 2003 and oil is exported via the Yoho FSO terminal. OML 104 has significant undeveloped gas reserves and could potentially see the deployment of a floating LNG (FLNG) unit in the near future. The license for the project was awarded to local company UTM Offshore in 2021. As part of the transaction, Seplat Energy is also acquiring all the aforementioned infrastructure, including the Qua Iboe Terminal, a 51% interest in the Bonny River Terminal and the EAP and Oso natural gas liquids recovery plant. Financing component Seplat Energy will fund its cash acquisition through a combination of existing cash resources and credit facilities. In addition, it is securing a new $550m senior term loan facility and a $275m junior off-take facility. The financing syndicate comprises of both Nigerian and international banks, along with commodity trading companies.

Gabon’s first mini gold refinery to start operations this year

The Government of Gabon has signed convention agreements this week with Alpha Centauri Mining (ACM) to boost gold exploration, exploitation and refining in the country. The company is held by British and Emirati investors and entered Gabon in 2016. In September last year it produced about 100 kg of gold per month, according to its website.   The agreements signed with the Government of Gabon this week covers the exploitation of gold mines in the Ndjole region, along with gold exploration in the Middle-Ogooue and Ogooue Ivindo provinces. More importantly, they also set the framework for the commissioning and operation of the country’s first gold refinery. “Alpha Cenauri Mining is building the country’s first refinery in the Gabon Special Economic Zone and we expect to start operations by mid-2022,” CEO Anand Bajla said after the signing ceremony. “We will start with a capacity of 4 tonnes per annum to enable Gabon to export refined gold,” he added. The mini modular refinery is a good first step for Gabon, who has so far struggled to fully develop its gold potential. Latest government data available shows gold output at 0.1 tonne in 2020. However, exports earnings have been on the rise and stood at FCFA 8.3bn between January and September 2021, compared with FCFA 2.7bn in 2019. To boost investments in the sector and support local content development, Gabon adopted a new Mining Code in 2019.