TotalEnergies has begun drilling a first well on Akpo West, in Nigeria, which it will tie into the Akpo FPSO, Africa Oil has reported.
The French company began an infill drilling campaign in February this year. The first focus was for three wells, two water injectors and one production, on Egina. Africa Oil, reporting its third quarter results, said this had offset production declines. Egina saw its first increase since the second quarter of 2021.
© Supplied by NobleThe Noble Gerry de Souza has now moved to begin work on Akpo West.
Africa Oil said the plan was for nine wells, on Egina and Akpo, during 2023 and 2024. OML 130 holds both fields, which started up in 2018 and 2009 respectively. Total has previously said it expects the short-cycle Akpo West to begin producing by the end of 2023.
Preowei plans
The partners are also working on the Preowei discovery. The OML 130 partners will acquire seismic over the licence, including Akpo, Egina, Agbami and Preowei, starting in late 2023.
Africa Oil noted that the group had also decided to launch front-end engineering and design (FEED) work on Preowei in the fourth quarter of 2023. Nigeria’s decision to renew the licence for 20 years spurred the move.
FEED work “could facilitate” a final investment decision (FID) on Preowei, Africa Oil, said. The field is north of Egina and would be tied back to the FPSO.
The seismic programme should provide information for more drilling plans in OML 127 and 130, the independent said.
Africa Oil works in Nigeria via Prime Oil & Gas. Results for the quarter were down year on year, with Prime reporting gross profit of $151 million, from $408.4mn in the third quarter of 2022. Revenue was down $125.7mn, the company continued.
Liftings were reduced and the cost of sales was up. However, the partners opted to convert OML 127 to the new Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). Africa Oil reported this would shift it from a 50% tax regime to 30%.
In the third quarter, Prime provided 20,300 barrels of oil equivalent per day to Africa Oil, up 4% from the previous quarter.
“Our Nigerian assets continue to perform well and we received a dividend for $62.5 million during the period”, said Africa Oil CEO Roger Tucker.
“We have a strong balance sheet and liquidity position, high netback production and unique transformational catalysts in our portfolio. We are focused on optimising our business structure and delivering on our organic growth opportunities. I look forward to updating you in due course as we make progress on several fronts towards delivering the next phase of value creation.”
Orange Basin
Africa Oil also has an effective 6.2% stake in PEL 56, offshore Namibia, home of the Venus discovery. The company said appraisal and exploration at the block were “its most impactful catalysts” for the rest of 2023.
In particular, the focus will be on flow test results from the Venus-1A appraisal well and the Mangetti-1X exploration well. The Deepsea Mira is working on the test at Venus-1A.
Africa Oil has a stake in the licence via its 31.1% stake in Impact Oil and Gas. Impact raised $40mn via a private placement at the end of October. This is intended to cover its costs in Namibia, including 3D seismic on the southern part of the block, on the Damara and South Damara structures.
In August, another shareholder in Impact reported the company was working on selling down its interest in the Namibian licence.
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