Country: Angola

The reopening of some refineries in Africa and the gradual commissioning of new facilities will mark the recovery of the continent’s downstream industry in 2023, according to Hawilti’s African Refineries Watch published today. While sub-Saharan Africa’s refining capacity is still under-utilised at some 40%, recovery is on the horizon with the re-opening of South Africa’s Astron Energy Refinery (100,000 barrels per day – bpd) and Ghana’s Tema Oil Refinery (45,000 bpd). Once both facilities are back in operations, the sub-continent will be able to utlise about half of its installed refining capacity. Refining capacity to get a boost in West Africa Ghana is also expecting to commission soon the Sentuo Oil Refinery, a 3 train multi-product crude oil refinery built within the Tema Industrial Zone with a targeted production capacity of 120 000 bpd. Its initial phase will have a capacity to produce 2 million tonnes per year (tpy) of petroleum products, almost doubling the country’s refining capacity. This is welcome news for Ghana who has seen its imports bill soar in recent months, reaching almost $4 billion in 2022 in premium and gasoil imports, according to the Bank of Ghana. But much larger change is currently happening in Nigeria, with the upcoming commissioning of the 650,000 bpd Dangote Refinery. The facility is scheduled to be inaugurated on May 22nd just before President Buhari leaves office and will cement Nigeria’s position as Africa’s leading refiner. Hawilti expresses cautious optimism on the commissioning of the Dangote Refinery, pointing to the complex and lengthy process required to reach full production. In its most recent report on Nigeria, the IMF for instance did not expect the refinery to reach full capacity right away, assuming a production of only 100,000 bpd in 2024 and 200,000 bpd in 2025. Meanwhile, Nigerian modular refineries have managed to navigate the country’s challenging business environments and found ways to secure new feedstock options to run small-scale facilities. Both the 1,000 bpd Edo Refinery and the 2,500 bpd Duport Midstream Refinery for instance are currently receiving crude oil by trucks from a marginal field in the Niger Delta to support their operations. The Edo Refinery is also undergoing significant expansion, with owner AIPCC Energy expecting to reach a capacity of 30,000 bpd at the end of this year and up to 100,000 bpd in 2024. “The drive to develop downstream assets with emphasis on refineries in emerging economies coupled with global energy volatility and evacuation challenges in some African countries is fueling the interest in the development of modular refineries,” declared Souheil Abboud, Managing Director at VFuels LLC. “The benefits of decentralizing refining infrastructure are one of the main reasons for the growth of modular refineries in Africa, and especially Nigeria. We are surely witnessing a growing demand for more sustainable infrastructure assets and an interest from Nigerian developers to integrated low-carbon electrification options within their future refining infrastructure. VFuels is proud to have completed an engineering FEED package that integrates renewable power solution for a refinery project in Nigeria.”

Corcel Plc, an AIM-listed company with interest across battery metals and oil & gas, has acquired a 90% interest in Atlas Petroleum Exploration Worldwide Limited (Apex Atlas), which was recently awarded operated and non-operated interests in onshore oil & gas blocks in Angola. The company is not to be confused with Atlas Petroleum International, the Nigerian exploration & production company. In May 2021, Apex Atlas was awarded a 20% working interest in the KON 11 and a 25% interest in the KON 12 blocks, two licenses that have produced between 1970 and 1990. They hold strong redevelopment potential focused on the Tobias and Galinda fields. The company was also awarded a 35% interest as operator of the KON 16 exploration block. A license signature and award ceremony is scheduled to take place later this week in Angola to formalize the deal. The transaction would complete only upon the formal execution of three risk service contracts (RSC) with the Angolan government covering the KON 11, 12 and 16 Blocks. The minimum spend on KON 11 and KON 12 is of $6m, while that of KON 16 is of $3m, with a commitment to drill one well on all three blocks, according to Corcel. “The Kwanza basin has been producing for 35 years, is a well understood petroleum system and has both significant scale and upside.  Corcel sees significant opportunities to increase the legacy operator estimated resources given the structural configuration of the basin and recent new structural mapping.  We also see large stratigraphic and structural pre salt structures on blocks, analogous to the offshore Cameia discovery.  Our initial focus will however be on quickly securing first oil and revenues through our redevelopment opportunities,” said James Parsons, Executive Chairman at Corcel.

Some $200m is being invested into exploring Blocks 30, 44 and 45 in the frontier Namibe Basin offshore Angola, according to the country’s Ministry of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas (MIREMPET). The blocks are operated by ExxonMobil (60%) under Risk Service Contracts signed at the end of 2020 with Sonangol E&P (40%) and the Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuel (ANPG) for the three blocks. On Tuesday this week, the three parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding to pave the way for exploration on the blocks, during a ceremony witnessed by Minister Diamantino Pedro Azevedo. Angola expects some $200m to be invested into seismic studies and the drilling of an exploratory well on the blocks by 2024, according to MIREMPET. In case of a successful commercial discovery, some $15bn could be invested into the development of reserves in the Namibe Basin to start production by 2030.   “Estimated revenue for the State from the development of a single major commercial discovery can range from $20bn to $40bn, given a conservative oil price forecast of $50-60,” MIREMPET said. ExxonMobil has mobilised the Valaris DS-9 drillship offshore Angola until July 2024, the Hawilti/Caverton Offshore Rigs Tracker shows. So far, drilling has focused on the company’s producing Block 15 where a new discovery was made at the Bavuca Sul-1 well last year.

Angola’s Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuel (ANPG) and Chevron’s local subsidiary CABGOC have announced the start of production from the Lifua-A project within Block 0. Chevron intends to develop the Lifua reserves via three different phases, Lifua-A, -B, and -C. Phase A relies on a stacked template structure (STS) platform with ten wells, including six production wells and four injectors. All fabrication was carried out locally in Cabinda by Algoa Cabinda Fabrication Services. “The Lifua-A platform is interconnected with the existing facilities in the Takula Area and is expected to produce a total of 6,500 barrels of oil per day from the Vermelha and Likouala reservoirs,” the ANPG said. The development of Lifua benefits from fiscal incentives granted under Angola’s marginal fields legislation. In November 2019, Executive Decree 328/18 granted marginal field status to the Lifua, 83-N, Kambala and N’Dola Sul fields in Block 0, data from Hawilti+ shows. In Angola, one of the conditions for a field to be considered marginal is that its proven oil reserves do not exceed 300 million barrels. Block 0 is located in shallow waters and is one of Angola’s most prolific assets with over 20 fields currently producing. Chevron is engaged in several brownfield development projects there, including the Sanha Lean Gas Connection (SLGC) project whose final investment decision (FID) was taken two years ago to supply gas feedstock to Angola LNG and the Soyo power plant. Out of the remaining discoveries that were granted marginal field status in 2019, N’Dola Sul is expected to be developed under a similar scheme as Lifua-A, according to Sonangol records.

Despite a very tight offshore rig supply market, 2023 might set a new 10-year high for Africa’s offshore drilling market as several development, infill, and exploration campaigns get executed this year. According to the Offshore Rigs Tracker released this week by Hawilti and the Caverton Offshore Support Group (COSG) Plc, over 30 rigs are already confirmed to be active offshore sub-Saharan Africa this year, with more in the pipeline. Angola will continue to dominate the market like it has for a couple of years. The country has six floaters already contracted until at least 2024. Based on its pipeline of brownfield and greenfield projects, it will continue to drive deep-water drilling activity until at least 2026. All international oil companies (IOCs) have active rigs in the country, especially TotalEnergies (3), Azule Energy (2), Chevron (1), and ExxonMobil (1). They are actively pursuing infill drilling campaigns and subsea tie-back schemes on their producing FPSO units, while targeting infrastructure-led exploration opportunities. “We continue to witness an upsurge in drilling activity offshore West Africa despite the offshore rigs supply getting tight,” said Capt. Ibrahim Bello, Managing Director of Caverton Helicopters. “More drilling contracts are currently in negotiations across the region for both exploratory and development drilling, which could make 2023 one of the biggest years for offshore drilling activity on the continent since the crisis of 2014.” Nigeria’s offshore industry is also maintaining the momentum of drilling activity it saw in 2022 with at least five offshore rigs scheduled to be active in the country this year. Shell’s subsidiary SNEPCO and TotalEnergies both have floaters mobilized for most of the year on their respective deep-water blocks, OML 118 and OML 130. However, most of Nigeria’s demand is for jack-ups in shallow water, driven by key players such as Chevron, First E&P, General Hydrocarbons, and Damas E&P. After Angola and Nigeria, the Republic of Congo and Gabon are the next most active offshore drilling destinations in sub-Saharan Africa. Both countries are seeking to mitigate their production decline with additional infill drilling, development drilling, and exploratory drilling. Several campaigns are currently taking place there, including exploratory drilling by Eni in Congo and CNOOC in Gabon. Across the rest of the continent, significant development and exploratory drilling campaigns are also on the table this year, including in Senegal and Namibia. While the former is drilling to start producing oil and export LNG, the latter has all the industry’s attention as both Shell and TotalEnergies seek to confirm significant oil and gas discoveries made in the Orange Basin. The Offshore Rigs Tracker Q1 2023 can be downloaded for free here.  

Azule Energy has awarded several contracts worth some $7.8bn to international services companies for the development of its Agogo West Hub Integrated Project offshore Angola. The company is owned by bp and Eni. The project comprises 36 new wells producing via a 120,000 bopd FPSO vessel with a gas injection capacity of 230 MMscf/d and water injection capacity of 120,000 bpd. It will develop the Agogo and Ndungu fields, located on the West Hub of Block 15/06 where Eni already operates two FPSO units: N’Goma on the West Hub and Olombendo on the East Hub. The N’Goma FPSO will also be utilized to produce from both fields, enabling a production peak of 175,000 bpd by 2026. Agogo is significant for Angola as it marks the first major greenfield project awarded in the country since TotalEnergies’ Kaombo FPSO was commissioned on Block 32 in 2018. All market activity since then has focused on brownfield projects, including subsea tie-back schemes maximizing the use of existing FPSO units. As per the contracts signed this week, Yinson will be supplying the Agogo FPSO along with field operations & maintenance services, under a 15-year contract worth some $5.3bn. The contract includes an extension option of five years and represents Yinson’s first offshore production project in Angola. “FPSO Agogo is expected to commence operations in Q4 2025,” Yinson said in a statement. In December last year, Yinson awarded a $127m contract to WS Engineering & Fabrication, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Wah Seong Corporation, for the FPSO’s topside modules. Baker Hughes was awarded a contract to provide subsea equipment and services, including 23 standard subsea trees, 11 Aptara manifolds, StemStar5 fibre optic controls and the related system scope of supply. “A significant portion of the equipment will be manufactured, assembled and tested in Angola,” the company said in a statement. Subsea7 was awarded a contract worth between $300-500m covering the transport and installation of approximately 98 km of flexible pipes, 30 km of umbilicals, and associated subsea structures. Fabrication will take place locally at the Sonamet yard in Lobito.   Aker Solutions was awarded a contract worth between $50-145m (NOK 500m-1bn) for the engineering, manufacturing and delivery of 36km of dynamic and static subsea production control umbilicals, including spares, ancillary equipment and services. Manufacturing will be done in Norway. Aker Solutions already delivered a similar order in the early 2010s for the N’Goma West Hub Development, data from the Hawilti+ Research Terminal shows. Finally, Saipem was awarded a contract for the supply, transport and installation of rigid flowlines and subsea structure; while TechnipFMC was selected for the engineering, procurement, and supply of jumpers, flowlines, risers, and all associated ancillary equipment under a contract worth $250-500m. Both companies are familiar with Block 15/06 and have already executed several contracts on the development of the West and East hubs with the FPSOs N’Goma and Olombendo, according to the contractors information on Block 15/06 provided by Hawilti+.

Hawilti released an important new study on Gas for Africa in partnership with the International Gas Union (IGU), assessing the potential for domestic gas resources to energise Africa in line with the global energy transition. The African Energy Commission (AU-AFREC) and the Africa Finance Corporation endorse the report and its findings. The study starts by analysing current energy poverty trends in Africa, a continent with the lowest electricity per capita consumption in the world and the lowest CO2 per capita emissions. It argues for a pragmatic use of natural gas reserves to support a broad industrial and economic development of Africa in a way that is sustainable and enables a just energy transition. Mickael Vogel, Director & Head of Research, Hawilti “Energy poverty in Africa often boils down to the number of people without access to electricity – 600 million, or without access to clean cooking – 970 million. Unfortunately, this assessment misses the point and can lead to responses and solutions that are ill-adapted to Africa’s development needs. As it argues for a better use of gas, the report calls for more ambitious targets around energy access so that we can both bridge Africa’s energy deficit but also support economic growth and industrialisation.” The ”Gas for Africa” report highlights several ways in which gas can have a positive impact on Africa’s socio-economic development including by switching away from coal and diesel, developing energy-intensive industries and gas-based industrialisation, displacing fuelwood and biomass in households, generating baseload electricity to integrate intermittent energies, and building gas systems that can be decarbonisable in the future with hydrogen, renewable gas, and CCUS. However, a pragmatic utilisation of Africa’s 18 Tcm of proven gas reserves – or 9% of the world’s reserves – calls for a reorientation towards domestic monetisation. Most of the gas produced in sub-Saharan Africa remains exported, with local consumption still limited because of limited infrastructure availability. Additional barriers include limited access to capital, security risks, and policy uncertaint.y To overcome these key barriers to development, a total of eight guiding principles are given as recommendations to help stakeholders and policy makers navigate the complexity of the gas industry: The full report is available for download here.

AMEA Power, a Dubai-based developer, owner and operator of green energy projects, has developed a strong appetite for Africa over recent years. The company already built West Africa’s biggest solar plant, a 50 MW PV facility in Blitta, Togo. Its commissioned and under-construction solar projects total some 130 MW, spread between Morocco, Burkina Faso, Togo, and Uganda. The company has now embarked on a significant scaling up of its renewable energy capacity on the continent via new solar, wind, and hydrogen projects. Its has a pipeline of over 1 GW of solar PV projects in various stages of development in Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Mali, Chad, Gabon, Angola, and Djibouti. In November 2022, it also signed an MoU for a new 50 MW facility in Malawi, and announced in January 2023 the signing of a concession agreement and 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for a new 50 MW solar PV project in Côte d’Ivoire. Its African portfolio is also on the verge of diversification, with wind projects of some 950 MW in total being developed in Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Last but not least, AMEA Power intends to leverage on Africa’s significant renewable energy potential to produce green hydrogen. It has currently selected Morocco, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Angola for up to 3.5 GW of green hydrogen projects that could be approved over the coming years.  

Azule Energy has signed an Agreement for Preliminary Activities (APA) with Yinson Azalea Production Pte Ltd to commence all preliminary activities for the provision, operation and maintenance of a FPSO asset for the Agogo Integrated West Hub Development Project offshore Angola. Agogo will be the third FPSO on Block 15/06, operated by Eni Angola (now part of Azule Energy). The field was discovered in 2019 as part of Eni Angola’s very successful infrastructure-led exploration strategy in the country. Tenders were issued by Eni in July 2021 for a project targeting a peak production of 120,000 bopd. Yinson is in charge of providing the FPSO, whose hull will be converted at the Huarun Dadong Dockyard in China. Full details on the development of Block 15/06 are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.

Angola’s National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) has announced a new discovery at the Bavuca Sul-1 well on Block 15. The block is operated by ExxonMobil (36%) in partnership with Azule Energy (42%), Equinor (12%) and Sonangol E&P (10%). ExxonMobil is currently executing a redevelopment programme on the block, following a June 2019 agreement with the ANPG to boost production. The operator is expecting to increase output by 40,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) by executing a multi-year drilling program and install new infrastructure technology to increase capacity of the existing flowlines. The Valaris DS-9 drillship was contracted for the drilling campaign, under a 2-year contract from June 2022 to June 2024. Phase one of drilling is targeting 17 wells while Phase 2 targets about 20 wells. Valaris had already announced the drilling of the exploration well at the end of September 2022, but without providing further details.   “The well encountered 30 meters (98 feet) of high-quality sandstone containing hydrocarbons (…) at a water depth of 1,100 meters (3,608 feet),” the ANPG said today. Bavuca Sul-1 marks the 18th discovery on Block 15, where the Kizomba A FPSO started producing in 2004 followed by the Kizomba B FPSO in 2005. No new discovery had been made on the block since that of Bavuca in 2003.

Sonadrill, the joint-venture between Seadrill and Sonangol, has secured a 12-well extension in Angola for the Libongos drillship, Seadrill announced today. The firm portion of the contract is worth $327m with commencement expected in Q4 2022 with a firm-term of approximately 25 months. The Libongos drillship was already under a multi-year contract with Eni Angola, Hawilti’s Offshore Rigs Tracker shows. The unit is reported to have been part of the company’s drilling campaign on Block 15/06, where Eni has made seven discoveries over the past four years and is executing several subsea tie-back projects on the block. Eni Angola, which now forms part of Azule Energy with bp Angola, is also progressing the full field development of Agogo on Block 15/06. Tenders were issued in July 2021 for a project targeting a peak production of 120,000 bopd via the installation of a third FPSO unit on the block. The Libongos drillship is currently heading back to Block 15/06, data from Marine Traffic shows.

TechnipFMC foresees between $4.5bn and $7bn of subsea opportunities in Angola, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire over the coming 24 months, according to its latest earnings presentation. Angola Angola will continue to dominate the market in terms of projects’ scope and value, as it has for the past couple of years. The implementation of an enabling environment and the granting of fiscal incentives by the Government there has translated into several new projects being approved by International Oil Companies (IOCs). Last July for instance, TotalEnergies took a final investment decision on the Begonia subsea tie-back, a 5-well development tied back to its Pazflor FPSO on Block 17. While several subsea tie-back projects have already been executed, more are in the making like the tie back of the Alho, Cominhos and Cominhos East (ACCE) fields to TotalEnergies’ Kaombo Norte FPSO on Block 32. TechnipFMC expects the subsea scope there to be worth up to $1bn. Meanwhile, new production hubs are also moving forward and will rely on the deployment of additional FPSO units. This is the case at Agogo on Azule Energy’s Block 15/06 where TechnipFMC expects the subsea scope to be worth over $1bn. On the same block, the development of additional reserves at the Cuica discovery could also support additional activity. The field was already tied-back to the Armada Olombendo FPSO in mid-2021 via an early production system (EPS) but its further development could represent up to $500m of subsea work, according to TechnipFMC. Finally, TechnipFMC expects the development of TotalEnergies’ Cameia field on Block 21 to be worth up to $500m in subsea opportunities. The development of the field benefits from fiscal incentives and will rely on a new FPSO unit. Bumi Armada is believed to have been shortlisted to provide the FPSO, with FID expected in 2024. Nigeria Despite ongoing turmoil, the Nigerian oil & gas sector is expected to rebound from 2023, after its presidential elections. TotalEnergies and Shell are both expected to approve brownfield projects there after years of hesitation. On OML 130, TotalEnergies has already restarted engineering work on its Preowei subsea tie-back project, a 70,000 bpd development that will rely on the Egina FPSO. TechnipFMC sees the subsea scope to be worth up to $1bn. Overall, OML 130 is expected to see renewed activity after the renewal of its PSC last August, with operator TotalEnergies planning a 9-well drilling campaign there that will start in a few months. Finally, Shell is expected to progress a few of its own deep-water projects on OML 118, where the production sharing contract (PSC) was renewed in May 2021. The major continues to consider three major projects on the block, including brownfield projects like Bonga North Tranche 1 (120,000 boepd at peak) and Bonga Main Life Extension & Upgrade (60,000 boepd at peak). It also has the option of developing Bonga Southwest, which would rely on a new FPSO and a unitization with the Aparo field, for a peak production of 150,000 boepd. TechnipFMC expects the subsea scope at Bonga North to be worth between $500m to $1bn, with pre-qualification documents issued by Shell in May this year. Bonga South West would be more significant as it would rely on a new FPSO, with subsea activity worth over $1bn. Côte d’Ivoire Finally, the phased development of Eni’s Baleine deep-water discovery in Côte d’Ivoire will support subsea activity in West Africa for the next couple of years. TechnipFMC notably expects the subsea scope of work to be worth up to $1bn. Phase 1, whose final investment decision (FID) was taken inearly 2022, is expected to be commissioned in 2023 with three wells producing an average of 12,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and 17.5 MMscfd of gas. It is expected to rely on the Firenze FPSO as a production hub: the vessel has been in Port Rashid (Dubai) since 2018 and is currently being refurbished before its redeployment offshore Côte d’Ivoire. In September 2022, Saipem already landed €1bn in contracts for the project’s initial phase, covering Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Installation (EPCI) activities of Subsea Umbilicals, Risers and Flowlines (SURF) and of an onshore gas pipeline, and the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning activities on the refurbishment of the Firenze FPSO vessel. Details on future deep-water activity and projects in sub-Saharan Africa are available on the Hawilti+ research terminal – plus.hawilti.com.

Italian major Eni has announced the successful completions of negotiations to start up the New Gas Consortium (NGC) in Angola. The partnership was announced in late 2019 and includes Eni as operator (25.6%) along with Chevron (31%), bp (11.8%), TotalEnergies (11.8%), and Sonangol (19.8%). The consortium is developing Angola’s first non-associated gas project by focusing on the Quiluma and Maboqueiro gas fields. The development plan includes two offshore wellhead platforms and an onshore gas processing plant connected to Angola LNG’s Soyo export terminal. The project will provide feedstock to Angola LNG, who until now has relied solely on associated gas that was previously flared. Activities will start in 2022 with First Gas scheduled for 2026 and an expected production of 330 MMscf/d at plateau. Partners in the New Gas Consortium are all shareholders in Angola LNG and have a strategic interest in investing into new feedstock supply for the 5.2m tpy facility. Ultimately, the Quilume and Maboqueiro gas fields will be operated by Azule Energy, the new joint-venture of Eni Angola and bp Angola announced earlier this year.

The Angolan Transport Ministry has awarded the 30-year concession for rail services and logistics support over the Lobito Corridor to the consortium of Trafigura (49.5%), Mota-Engil (49.5%), and Vecturis (1%). The Lobito Corridor is a key route that connects mines in the D.R. Congo to the Lobito Port in central Angola, from where commodities can be exported to global markets. Until now, exporting Congo’s copper, cobalt and metals required several weeks by connecting to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, Beira in Mozambique, or as far as Durban in South Africa. The concession follows a competitive tender and can be extended by another 20 years after its initial period. “With increased dynamics in the transportation of minerals and other materials in the coming years and improved competitiveness of the rail system, it is expected that the Lobito Corridor could become the 3rd most important corridor in the SADC region by 2050,” Trafigura said in response to the award. The private consortium will operate, manage, and maintain the rail infrastructure that links the Port of Lobito to Luau in eastern Angola, next to the DRC border. Key commodities include minerals, liquids, gas, and cargo transport. A significant investment is notably expected into improving the infrastructure and rolling stock for freight operations to increase capacity.

by Souheil Abboud, Managing Director, VFuels LLC. Africa’s refining capacity has traditionally been concentrated around key hubs in Algeria, Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria. Combined, these four countries represent almost 75% of Africa’s installed refining capacity thanks to large-scale refineries that operate with various levels of reliability. However, Nigeria and South Africa have lost their status of refining hubs in recent years. Nigeria because of under-investment and lack of maintenance in its three state-owned refineries, and South Africa because of the gradual shut-down or conversion of its own facilities. As most African nations seek to secure their fuel supplies by building their own refineries, modular technologies and designs have been on the rise. While the trend first emerged out of Nigeria, it has quickly spread across the continent and modular refineries are now being built from West to Southern Africa. Modular technology solutions make it possible to address several critical challenges and needs of emerging markets, especially in Africa. They notably offer clients the opportunity to set up a refinery in approximately 13+ months from inception to start of production. This compares favorably with the 3+ years for a traditional “stickbuilt” refinery. Such decentralized assets also avoid a lot of the regular land, infrastructure, and logistics challenges associated with larger projects. Modular refineries have a quick return on investment (RoI) of approximately 2 years, enabling developers and their investors the ability to recoup their invested capital sooner. They offer a lot of flexibility when it comes to capex and opex, and the ability to gradually invest in additional modules to support capacity expansion over time. Finally, the modular refining technology makes project’s development simple and efficient. It notably requires less manpower and direct supervision, which in turn provides significant costs savings and reduced operating expenses. At VFuels, we have developed a solid track record of executing modular refinery projects for African clients. These include the 5,000 bpd Waltersmith refinery in Nigeria, the 10,000 bpd Conex refinery in Liberia, and the 30,000 bpd Cabinda refinery in Angola where factory acceptance tests (FAT) were completed in May 2022. As we continue to support Africa’s energy security agenda with modular refinery solutions, we also believe in the sustainability of African infrastructure assets. Earlier this year, we entered into a joint venture agreement with Earth Technologies to develop and install clean energy infrastructure for African oil & gas assets, including refineries. We also set up a collaboration with EMCO Engineering to develop water treatment facilities and deploy controls and digital solutions across various sectors in Africa.

Afentra has officialised its entry in Angola with the signing of Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Sonangol’s upstream subsidiary Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção. The one-year old, AIM-listed independent is acquiring from Sonangol a 20% non-operated interest in the producing Block 3/05 and a 40% non-operated interest in exploration Block 23 for up to $130m, including $80m cash upfront. The acquisition has an effective date of 20 April 2022 and follows the launch of Sonangol’s partial divestment process last year, under which Afentra was selected as preferred bidder for both blocks. Block 3/05 is located in shallow water and produced an average of 17,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in 2021. In 2018, it had already attracted the interest of Maurel & Prom who acquired AJOCO’s 20% interest in both Blocks 3/05 and 3/05A. Post transaction, it will remain operated by Sonangol. Block 23 is located in deep-water within the Kwanza Basin and contains the Azul oil discovery that tested at flow rates of around 3-4,000 bopd of light oil. Afentra is being joined in the block by Namibia’s national oil company NAMCOR who is taking another 40% interest in the licence. Details on Blocks 3/05 and 23 offshore Angola are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.

On April 5th, the Angolan National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) opened a tender for eight oil blocks in the Lower Congo and Kwanza offshore basins. These include Blocks 16/21, 31/21, 32/21, 33/21 and 34/21 in the Lower Congo and Blocks 7/21, 8/21 and 9/21 in the Kwanza Basin. In the presence of Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas, Diamantino Pedro Azevedo and Secretary of State for Oil and Gas José Barroso, the round of offshore blocks piqued the interest of several global oil majors operating in the country. Eni Angola notably submitted a bid for Block 31/21, as operator with a 50% interest, in partnership with Equinor (50%). On its side, TotalEnergies presented a bid proposal for Block 16/21, with a 100% stake. “Knowing that the basins in the bidding have been studied and the investors have been able to prove that our business environment is recommended – and that investors recognise it – and that the ANPG guarantees  dialogue and continuous work with operators and with partners who trust Angola, it is something that shows us that we are on the right path and that we must commit more to boost our oil & gas sector and its contribution to the national economy,” commented  Paulino Jerónimo, CEO of the ANPG. The bidding round was notably launched a month before the 8th African Petroleum Congress and Exhibition (CAPE VIII), set to take place in Luanda from May 16th-19th. The congress is sponsored by SONANGOL, TOTAL ENERGIES, EXXONMOBIL, CHEVRON, EQUINOR, TRAFIGURA, SOMOIL, SINOPEC, BFA, SNH, BRIMONT, SHEARWATER and is supported by PETAN, OGTAN, AECIPA. Headline topics include, among others, ANPG’s latest bid round, the energy transition, and opportunities and challenges under the new geopolitical paradigm shift. The congress is organized by the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO), the government of the Republic of Angola (for the first time), the Angolan National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) and AME Trade Ltd. The three-day event will be centered around the theme of “Energy Transition: Challenges and Opportunities in the African Oil and Gas Industry,” and assemble experts from the national, regional, and international energy and oil and gas industries to deliberate the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition and the future of the oil and gas industry in Africa. The congress will be the ideal platform for Africa’s leading oil and gas producers to confront the foregoing challenges and engender solutions to maximize its oil and gas resources. Amid the drive by developed economies towards decarbonization and net-zero policies, attending energy stakeholders will have the opportunity to reinforce the case for regional integrated supply chains and pooling resources to leverage the catalytic power of hydrocarbons in a sustainable manner. Supported by countless multinationals across the energy value chain and national oil companies, CAPE VIII will feature illuminating insight from a range of illustrious keynote speakers, who will position to influence the future landscape of energy in Africa and beyond. Confirmed Keynote speakers notably include: H.E. Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources of Angola, President of APPO; H.E. Mahamane Sani Mahamadou Issoufou, Minister of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energy Republic of Niger; H.E Gabriel Obiang Lima, Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy of Equatorial Guinea; H.E. Samson Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, South Africa; H.E. Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister of Energy, Ghana; H.E. Thomas Camara, Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy, Ivory Coast; H.E. Didier Budimbu Ntubuanga, Minister of Hydrocarbons, Democratic Republic of Congo; H.E. Mohamed Arkab, Minister of Energy and Mines, Algeria; H.E. Bruno Jean Richard Itoua, Minister of Hydrocarbons, Congo; H.E Vincent de Paul Massassa, Minister of Petroleum, Gas and Mines, Republic of Gabon; Toufik HEKKAR, CEO of Sonatrach, Algeria; Jianqiang Zhang, President, Sinopec Angola; Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary General, African Petroleum Producers Association (APPO); Ms. Cany Jobe, Director of Exploration and Production, Gambia National Petroleum Corporation; Immanuel Mulunga, Managing Director, Namcor; Edson R Dos Santosi, CEO, SOMOIL ; Dr. Ibrahim Mamane, Directeur Général, SONIDEP ; Osam Iyahen, Vice President, Oil & Gas, Africa Finance Corporation; Bráulio de Brito, Chairman, Angola O&G Service Companies Association (AECIPA); Zakaria Dosso, Managing Director, AEICORP; Matthieu Milandri, Head of Upstream Finance, Trafigura; Yann Pierre Albert Livulibutt Yangari, Independent Consultant; Dr. Babafemi Oyewole, the CEO of Energy Synergy Partners; Tim Dixon, Director and General Manager, IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme. The congress will notably welcome the participation of several African national oil companies (NOCS), including Sonangol (Angola), SNH (Cameroon), SHT (Chad), PETROCI (Côte d’Ivoire), SNPC (Congo), NNPC (Nigeria), Sonatrach (Algeria), GE Petrol and Sonagas (Equatorial Guinea), and SONIDEP (Niger). In this crucial period for the development of the industry in Africa & globally, CAPE VIII presents a unique opportunity to connect with key stakeholders from Africa’s petroleum producing countries. 

De Beers Group announced yesterday the signing of two Mineral Investment Contracts (MICs) with the Government of Angola for licence areas in north-eastern Angola. Both contracts formalize the award and exercise of mineral rights over a period of 35 years each, allowing De Beers Group to explore and mine diamonds in the southern African country. Each concession area will be held by a separate new joint venture company formed by De Beers Group and Endiama, Angola’s state-owned diamond company. This is another win for Angola’s diamond industry that has been the subject of substantive reforms over the past years to attract investors. In October last year, Angola’s Ministry of Mineral Resources, Petroleum & Gas and Endiama had already signed a MIC with Rio Tinto for the Chiri diamond concession in the Lunda Norte Province in northern Angola, at the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).   As Angola pursues its economic diversification strategy, its mining and minerals industry offer attractive opportunities to industrialise the country while generating jobs. Angola is already the world’s sixth largest diamond producer and diamonds represent its second biggest source of export earnings after oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG). In 2021, the country produced 9.4m carats of diamonds worth over $1.5bn, according to data from its Central Bank. The sector generated Kz. 72bn for the government, or some $175m.

Eni has upgraded its field estimate at Ndungu on Block 15/06 offshore Angola at 800 million to 1 billion barrels of oil equivalent in place following the successful drilling of the Ndungu-2 appraisal well. The Ndungu-1 discovery well had been drilled in 2019 with original oil in place (OIIP) of 257m barrels according to Sonangol. With Ndungu-2, Eni has potentially discovered an additional 500m to 700m barrels of oil equivalent, confirming the tremendous success of its infrastructure-led exploration strategy in the country. Ndungu-2 marks the seventh discovery of Eni on Block 15/06 in four years. The adoption of an enabling environment by the administration of João Lourenço had led to the relaunch of the exploration campaign in 2018, which resulted in discoveries at Kalimba-1 and Afoxe-1 the same year. These were followed by Agogo-1, Ndungu-1 and Agidigbo-1 in 2019, and Cuica-1 in 2021. Source: MinFin Angola Out of these, Agogo benefited from incentives by being granted marginal status under the Presidential Legislative Decree 6/18 of May 2018. It was put on stream and started producing in January 2020 as a tie-back to the N’Goma FPSO. It is now being subject to a full field development planning with a new FPSO hub in the making. Cuica was next and achieved first oil in August 2021 from the Armada Olombendo FPSO. The vessel also started receiving production from the Cabaça North field in September 2021. Ndungu-1 came next, with first oil achieved in early 2022 via an early production scheme tied-back to the N’Goma FPSO. A second producer well is now expected at Ndungu in Q4 2022, according to Eni. Full details on the exploration and development activities on Block 15/06 are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.

Unlocking Africa’s oil and gas potential is now imperative against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine and the resulting crude, diesel, and gas supply crunch. This has rendered European dependence on Russian energy untenable, creating a major opportunity for Africa to position itself as a crucial option to increase the supply to the global energy markets. However, significant challenges remain for the continent’s hydrocarbon producers to suddenly ramp up their production due to infrastructure, finance, and technology deficits. Countries with major LNG resources, such as Nigeria, Angola, Libya, and Algeria, suffer from limited and underdeveloped pipeline networks, refineries, jetties, terminals, and ports. Additionally, incentivizing foreign investment is often problematized by a host of risk factors, including political instability, local insecurity issues and financial institutions shifting investments from fossil fuels to renewables. Finally, securing the latest technology to facilitate local content development has proven cost prohibitive given the reliance on foreign intellectual property and the continual brain drain of key local human capital. All the above issues will be discussed at the 8th Africa Petroleum Congress and Exhibition (CAPE VIII) taking place from 16-19 May 2022 in Luanda, Angola.  The congress is organized by the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO), the government of the Republic of Angola (for the first time), and AME Trade Ltd. The three-day event will be centered around the theme of “Energy Transition: Challenges and Opportunities in the African Oil and Gas Industry,” and assemble experts from the national, regional, and international energy and oil and gas industries to deliberate the challenges and opportunities of the energy transition and the future of the oil and gas industry in Africa. CAPE VIII will unfold against the recession of the global pandemic that exacerbated record production declines across African hydrocarbon producing countries from 2020 to 2021. The annus horribilis was compounded by under-investment in exploration activities, leaving several of the continent’s biggest energy players struggling to cope with the post-lockdown surge in demand for hydrocarbons. Fortunately, APPO’s ambition to establish the continent as an energy hub regained significant headwind with a stellar upstream development outlook for 2022 and beyond. The congress will be the ideal platform for Africa’s leading oil and gas producers to confront the foregoing challenges and engender solutions to maximize its oil and gas resources. Amid the drive by developed economies towards decarbonization and net-zero policies, attending energy stakeholders will have the opportunity to reinforce the case for regional integrated supply chains and pooling resources to leverage the catalytic power of hydrocarbons in a sustainable manner. Supported by countless multinationals across the energy value chain and national oil companies, CAPE VIII will feature illuminating insight from a range of illustrious keynote speakers, who will mold the future landscape of energy in Africa and beyond. Keynote speakers at the conference will include: H.E. Diamantino Pedro Azevedo, Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources of Angola, President of APPO H.E. Mahamane Sani Mahamadou Issoufou, Minister of Petroleum, Energy and Renewable Energy Republic of Niger H.E. Samson Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, South Africa H.E. Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, Minister of Energy, Ghana, H.E. Thomas Camara, Minister of Mines, Petroleum and Energy, Ivory Coast Dr. Omar Farouk Ibrahim, Secretary General, African Petroleum Producers Association (APPO) Ms.  Cany Jobe, Director of Exploration and Production , Gambia National Petroleum Corporation Mr. Edson R Dos Santosi, CEO, SOMOIL Dr. Ibrahim Mamane, Directeur Général, SONIDEP Mr. Osam Iyahen , Vice President, Oil & Gas, Africa Finance Corporation Mr. Bráulio de Brito, Chairman, Angola O&G Service Companies Association (AECIPA) Mr. Zakaria Dosso, Managing Director, AEICORP Mr. Matthieu Milandri, Head of Upstream Finance, Trafigura Mr. Yann Pierre Albert Livulibutt Yangari, Independent Consultant Mr. Dr. Babafemi Oyewole, the CEO of Energy Synergy Partners Tim Dixon, Director and General Manager, IEA Greenhouse Gas R&D Programme Confirmed National Oil Companies at CAPE VIII include. SONANGOL, Angola SNH, Cameroon SHT, Chad Petroci, Cote d’Ivoire SNPC, Congo NNPC, Nigeria Sonagol, Angola GE Petrol, Equatorial Guinea Sonagas, Equatorial Guinea CAPE VIII is sponsored by the continent’s leading oil and gas players including: SONANGOL, TOTAL ENERGIES, EXXONMOBIL, CHEVRON, EQUINOR, TRAFIGURA, SOMOIL, BRIMONT, SHEARWATER. Hawilti is a proud Communication Partner of Cape VIII.

VFuels LLC, the American oil and gas engineering, design and fabrication firm that has already delivered several modular process equipment on the continent, has entered into a joint-venture agreement with Earth Technologies to develop and install clean energy infrastructure for African oil & gas assets, including refineries. Earth Tehnologies is a renewable energy company with a demonstrated track record in the development, engineering, procurement, construction and consultancy of renewable energy projects. Both companies are maximizing the synergies in their capacities to offer attractive and clean energy solutions for infrastructure owners and operators on the continent. VFuels is a known player in Africa, where it has successfully executed three modular refineries so far. Its first one was commissioned at Ibigwe in Nigeria for Waltersmith Refining & Petrochemical Co. in 2020. The company also recently completed the 10,000 bpd Monrovia Refinery in Liberia for Conex, a Gemcorp portfolio company. It is now at full speed on the construction of the 30,000 bpd Cabinda Refinery in Angola. As VFuels continue to work on expanding Africa’s refining infrastructure, it will now be able to propose clients additional solutions to make their assets more sustainable and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Eni has announced the start of production from its Ndungu early production development project on Block 15/06 offshore Angola. The field was discovered in 2019 and is now tied-back to the Ngoma FPSO and is the third startup on the block in only seven months. The project has an expected production rate of 20,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) and will help sustain the plateau of the Ngoma FPSO, a unit able to produce up to 100,000 bopd and commissioned back in 2014. “A further exploration and delineation campaign will be performed in the first half of 2022 with the aim to assess the full potential of the overall asset of Ndungu,” Eni said. This is the second tie-back to the N’Goma FPSO following Agogo in early 2020. Eni has been leading a successful infrastructure-led exploration strategy on Block 15/06 for a couple of years and keeps successfully putting any new discovery into production in record time by using its two FPSOs on the block, N’Goma and Olombendo. Block 15/06 is operated by Eni Angola (36.84%) along with partners Sonangol E&P (36.84%) and SSI Fifteen Ltd (26.32%). In June 2021, Sonangol officially launched its divestment process under which it notably seeks to sell up to 10% of its interest in the license. A total of 36.2m barrels were exported from Block 15/06 last year according to the Ministry of Finance, representing a daily average of almost 100,000 bopd. As of December 2020, 142.2m barrels had been produced from the West Hub (N’Goma FPSO) with remaining reserves estimated at 174m barrels, while 85.7m barrels had been produced from the East Hub (Olombendo FPSO) where remaining reserves were estimated at 159.8m barrels. In parallel to its subsea tie-back projects on the license, Eni is also advancing plans for the full development of the Agogo discovery with a third production hub. Tenders were issued in July 2021 for a project targeting a peak production of 120,000 bopd via the installation of a third FPSO unit on the block. Full details on Block 15/06 offshore Angola are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.

The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has raised $400m in a new syndicated loan to support the development of infrastructure on the continent and aid in the post-pandemic recovery. Strong interest from investors led to the offering being 2.5 times oversubscribed, leading to a total facility of $100m above the initial target. This is the AFC’s first three-year facility since 2018. “The proceeds will facilitate upcoming infrastructure projects that address the continent’s developmental challenges,” the AFC said in a statement. Moody’s recently improved its outlook for AFC’s investment grade credit ratings to ‘stable.’ Its senior unsecured ratings at A3 and short-term issuer ratings at P-2 are the second highest of any institution in Africa. Key participating lenders as bookrunners and mandated lead arrangers include Absa Bank, Bank of China (London branch), First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, ICBC (London), Mashreq Bank PSC of Dubai, MUFG Bank of Japan, Nedbank (London branch), Rand Merchant Bank (a division of FirstRand Bank, London branch), Standard Chartered Bank and SMBC Bank International, acted as Bookrunners and Mandated Lead Arrangers. On their side, the Korea Development Bank and Standard Bank of South Africa acted as Mandated Lead Arrangers, while MUFG Bank Ltd and ICBC (London) also acted as Facility Agent and Documentation Agent, respectively. Last year, the AFC revealed plans to step up its infrastructure financing in Africa with a new asset management division, AFC Capital Partners. Its debut offering, the Infrastructure Climate Resilient Fund (ICRF) is planning to raise $500m this year and $2bn over the next three years.

TotalEnergies has achieved first oil from a second subsea tieback project in Block 17 offshore Angola. The French major has announced start of production at CLOV 2 today, a new tie-back expected to reach a peak of 40,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in mid-2022. The entry into production of CLOV 2 via a tie-back to the CLOV FPSO follows that of Zinia 2 last May, via a tie-back to the Pazflor FPSO. Both projects have a production peak capacity of 40,000 boepd each. Block 17 includes a total of four floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels: Girassol (2001), Dalia (2006), Pazflor (2011) and CLOV (2014). It remains by far Angola’s biggest producing asset. Source: MinFin Since 2018, TotalEnergies has been engaged in a significant redevelopment of the block. The move was supported by an exrension of standardization of the dates for the production periods of most areas on the license in 2020. All are now valid until December 31, 2045. After Zinia 2 and CLOV 2, TotalEnergies is expected to achieve first oil from Dalia 3 in 2022, and from CLOV 3 in 2023. Details on the development of Block 17 offshore Angola are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal. Hawilti also publishes, twice a year, a detailed market report on Angola’s oil & gas sector available within its terminal.