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After two years of delay, the Nigerian authorities have finally approved PetroNor’s acquisition of Panoro Energy’s subsidiaries in Nigeria, Pan-Petroleum Services Holding BV and Pan-Petroleum Nigeria Holding. The deal was initially inked in October 2019 and had been awaiting government consent since then. Through this acquisition, PetroNor is acquiring Pan Petroleum Aje Ltd, which holds a 6.502% participating interest and 16.255% cost bearing interest in OML 113. This represents a total economic interest of 12.1913% in the license that contains the Aje field offshore Lagos, which produced oil from 2016 to 2021 via the Tamara Nanaye FPSO. Source: DRPC/NUPRC Along with the completion of the acquisition, the Nigeria Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has also given consent for the transfer of OML 113 to Aje Petroleum AS, a special purpose vehicle owned by Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum (YFP, 55%) and PetroNor (45%). Under the deal, PetroNor will serve as the new technical operator for the redevelopment of Aje into a gas project, on behalf of YFP. The Field Development Plan (FDP) for the new Turonian Aje gas project on OML 113 aims at increasing production to 15,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) via the drilling of two new gas producers and one oil producer. It is notably being planned along with the replacement of the Tamara Nanaye FPSO with a new unit able to process increased liquids production and up to 110 MMscfd of gas. This new FPSO could even become a regional field center since it is located around substantial proven resources such as Albian but especially Ogo, a world-class discovery on the neighbouring OPL 310 operated by Optimum Petroleum. The latest plans available had a projected production peak of 26,000 boepd in 2025, with most incremental production being made of gas reserved for power generation and exports through the nearby West Africa Gas Pipeline (WAGP), or supporting LNG production. The partners have set OPEX at about $30m a year, including FPSO bareboat, Operation & Maintenance and G&A. The project is currently at FEED stage and is expecting FID in 2022 at the earliest. Meanwhile, the Tamara Nanaye FPSO stopped producing from the Aje field in November 2021. Hawilti reported earlier this year on its research terminal that the vessel is being refurbished before redeployment at the Kalaekule field on OML 72. It will continue to be operated and maintained by Nigerian services conglomerate Century Group. Details on the development of OML 113 offshore Lagos are available in the “Projects” section within your Hawilti+ research terminal.
On Wednesday this week, the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) issued a request for application for the pre-qualification of the concession of the Lagos Blue Line Rail Project, which will run from Marina to Okokomaiko. The line is part of the broader Lagos Rail Mass Transit (LRMT) network currently being developed under the Lagos Strategic Transport Master Plan. The development of the master plan was supported and funded by the World-Bank and notably identified 14 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors, six rail lines and one monorail. While Lagos started with the construction of the bus rapid transit corridors, two of which are already operational, the state is now building two rail lines, known as the Blue and Red ones. The Blue Line counts 13 stations and will run on a 27km East-West axis from Badagry to Marina on Lagos Island. The Red Line will run on a 37km North-South axis from Agbado to Marina and is under-construction after breaking ground in 2021. The Blue Line will be the first to be operational but the project has been split into two phases to ease its development. The first phase is a 12.5km stretch from Mile 2 to Marina that will start operating at the end of 2022 and will function as a proof-of-concept for Lagos’ future metro system. The second phase consists in doing the rail works on the remaining 14.5km stretch. It is for this second phase that the Lagos State Government is now seeking reputable and experienced railway developers, EPC contractors, rolling stock and equipment manufacturers, operators, and financiers. “These service providers will be expected to form Consortia comprising of all the required service providers, and should provide technical, operational and financial capabilities to enhance their qualification,” LAMATA said in its notice. Applications and expressions of interest must be submitted to KPMG by March 2nd, 2022.
