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VFuels to offer renewable energy solutions for African oil & gas assets

VFuels has successfully delivered several modular refinery projects in Africa, including in Nigeria and Liberia. Picture: VFuels LLC

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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.

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Eni selects New Fortress Energy’s Fast LNG liquefaction technology for Congo FLNG

New Fortress Energy has executed a a Heads of Agreement (HoA) with Eni Congo for the deployment of its Fast LNG liquefaction technology off the coast of the Republic of the Congo for a period of 20 years. Under the agreement, NFE will deploy its innovative “Fast LNG” facility to produce up to 1.4 million metric tons per year of LNG from the associated gas fields of Nene Marine on Block Marine XII. The development of a floating LNG project has been on the table for several years in Congo and is finally gaining traction. A few weeks ago, Eni announced it was seeking to develop the project in two phases with two modular and flexible liquefaction plants. Phase 1 is expected to rely on a near-shore concept while Phase 2 would rely on an offshore concept.  The production from Phase 1 is expected to start in Q2 of 2023. The project would both target zero gas flaring but also seek to valorise gas for the domestic power and industrial sectors and for the export market. Last December, NFE had also executed a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Islamic Republic of Mauritania for the development of the offshore Banda gas reserves into a new energy hub. Under the MoU signed with the Ministry of Petroleum, Mines and Energy, New Fortress Energy would also deploy its Fast LNG liquefaction technology to produce LNG for Mauritania’s domestic gas and power markets and for exports.

Eni achieves first oil from Ndungu offshore Angola

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.