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bp achieves first oil from subsea tieback project on Block 18 in Angola

The Greater Plutonio FPSO started production on Block 18 offshore Angola in 2007. Picture: bp

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bp has announced start of production from its Platina project on Block 18 offshore Angola. The field was brought online ahead of schedule and under the contractor’s group initial budget. The block is operated by bp Angola (Block 18) B.V. (36.34%) along with BP Exploration Beta (9.66%), Sonangol SSI (7.72%), and Sonangol E&P (16.28%).

The project will develop an estimated 44m barrels of oil reserves and add 30,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) to Block 18 production once it reaches its peak in 2022.

In its 2022 budget, Angola expects Block 18’s output to grow by over 45% next year thanks to Platina. The field will contribute to reversing Angola’s production decline next year and bring back oil GDP to positive after six consecutive years in the red.

The development by bp of the offshore Greater Plutonio area within Block 18 in Angola was the British major’s first operated asset in the country. Commissioned in 2007, the project initially developed five fields (Galio, Cromio, Paladio, Plutonio, and Cobalto) in water depths ranging from 1,200 to 1,450 m. The Greater Plutonio floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel has a maximum throughput capacity of 240,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd), with a storage capacity of 1.77m barrels.

Source: Ministry of Finance, Angola

Block 18 forms part of Sonangol’s ongoing partial divestment process. The national oil company is currently divesting up to 8.28% in the license, which received one of the highest number of bids. Interested parties notably include Namcor, Falcon Oil, Somoil and MTI Energy.

Details on the development of Block 18 offshore Angola are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.

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World Bank revises Nigeria’s growth projections upward and calls for bold policy reforms

As Nigeria’s economy is recovering at a faster-than-expected pace in 2021, the World Bank has revised its growth projects for the country upward. While the Bretton Woods institution initially predicted a GDP growth of 1.8% in 2021 and 2.1% in 2022, it now predicts it at 2.7% this year and 2.8% next year. The World Bank justifies this more optimistic forecast on the back of recent growth in services and manufacturing. “The growth of services was largely organic, albeit uneven: telecoms expanded robustly during the pandemic, while trade, transportation, and financial services also recovered,” it said in its Nigeria Development Update this month. However, the World Bank does note that the momentum of Nigeria’s reform agenda has waned and is currently undermining the country’s long-term growth prospects. As a result, its economy continues to grow at a slower pace than that of its neighbours. The report, titled “Time for Business Unusual,” notably says that the insufficient supply of foreign exchange (FX) issues, the unsustainable subsidy on premium motor spirit (PMS), burdensome trade restrictions, and the sizeable fiscal deficit financing by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) are undermining the business environment, compounding underlying constraints on domestic revenue mobilization, foreign investment, human capital development, and the delivery of public services. Source: NBS The PMS subsidy remains a major challenge for the Nigerian economy, especially at a time when the country struggles to increase oil production. While oil prices are high, Nigeria has not fully benefited from them because of lower output, at the same time when PMS subsidies are soaring. The World Bank’s Development Update highlights urgent policy priorities that can be implemented over the next three to six months in four key areas: (1) eliminating the PMS subsidy while protecting poor and vulnerable households from any inflationary impact; (2) reducing inflation through a coordinated mix of exchange rate, trade, monetary and fiscal policies; (3) catalyzing private investment by enhancing foreign exchange management, easing trade restrictions, and fostering a better business environment; and (4) addressing fiscal pressures through enhanced domestic revenue mobilization and reducing the reliance on CBN deficit financing.

Vitol to acquire Vivo Energy’s remaining shares for approximately $2.3bn

Vivo Energy has announced it has reached an agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer under which Vitol will be acquiring the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Vivo. Vitol will only be acquiring the shares it does not already own in Vivo Energy, via a BidCo, a company indirectly owned by Vitol Investment Partnership II Ltd. The total cash value of the deal is valued at $2.3bn. In December 2020, Vivo Energy’s key shareholders included Vitol (36.1%), Helios Investment Partners (27.23%) and Petronas Marketing International (3.93%). The announcement follows several attempts by the Vitol Group to acquire Helios Investment Partners’ shares in Vivo Energy. “Following a series of negotiations, BidCo and Helios agreed a price at which both parties would be willing to transact at a purchase price of US$1.79 per Vivo Share,” Vivo Energy said in a statement. Both companies were partners and founding shareholders of Vivo Energy, a company born of Shell’s divestment from all its African fuel retailing business in 2011. Vivo eventually completed an initial public offering in May 2018, pursuant to which its shares were admitted to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange and admitted to listing on the Official List, with a secondary listing on the Main Board of the JSE.