Arbitration awards Kosmos Energy Senegal LNG project to BP, as the sole purchaser
Kosmos Energy announced on Tuesday that a Paris arbitrator ruled in favor of BP, preventing Kosmos to sell liquefied gas from the Greater Tortue project off Senegal and Mauritania. LNG is a key part of BP's energy transition strategy. Energy major BP has established a significant LNG pipeline across the globe, including Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria, Angola Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea are already shipping significant volumes. The International Chamber of Commerce was asked to arbitrate a dispute between Kosmos Energy (a U.S.
Kosmos Strikes Oil Off Equatorial Guinea
American upstream oil company founded and based in Dallas Kosmos Energy made an offshore oil discovery in Equatorial Guinea, Reuters reported quoting the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons.The S-5 well was drilled at a total depth of 4,400 meters and encountered 39 meters of net oil play in the Santonian reservoir, in the offshore Rio Muni Basin, it said. “The discovery is a strong validation of our strategy to replace oil reserves by exploring the highly prospective oil basins like Rio Muni…
Senegal President's Brother Resigns After Energy Fraud Claims
The brother of Senegal's President Macky Sall has resigned from his government post after allegations of fraud relating to natural gas contracts, he said on Monday.An investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) this month alleged that a company run by Aliou Sall received a secret payment of $250,000 in 2014 from Frank Timis, a businessman whose company, Timis Corporation, that year secured licences to two major offshore gas blocks.The affair has dominated the airwaves in Senegal, overshadowing the beginning of President Sall's second term.
W&T Strikes Oil in US Gulf of Mexico
Oil and natural gas producer W&T Offshore has discovered oil at the Gladden Deep prospect in Mississippi Canyon block 800 in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.W&T is operator of the well, which is one of 14 planned for the drilling program under the Monza JV. The company owns a 17.25% interest in the discovery.Gladden Deep is located in approximately 3,000 feet of water and was drilled to a total measured depth of 18,324 feet and encountered 201 feet of net oil pay. This single-well completion…
Equatorial Guinea to Offer Ophir's Old Blocks
Equatorial Guinea will offer offshore Block R with the related Fortuna gas development project in the April licensing round, after the concession was reclaimed from Ophir Energy Plc, the oil minister said on Tuesday.Gabriel Obiang Lima told Reuters in Cape Town that Block R would be one of up to 13 deepwater and ultra deepwater blocks offered in the licensing round on April 1.Ophir was denied an extension in December to its licence for Block R and its plan for a floating liquiefied natural gas (LNG) project.
BP Green-lights Greater Tortue Ahmeyim Project
BP and its partners announced on Friday that the green light has been given for the first phase of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project off the coast of Mauritania and Senegal.The cross-border development, a first for the two West African nations and Africa's deepest offshore project at 2,000 meters below the sea's surface, will produce gas from an ultra-deepwater subsea system and mid-water floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, which will process the gas, removing heavier hydrocarbon components.
Kosmos Energy, Shell Form Alliance
Oil and gas exploration and production company Kosmos Energy said that it has entered into a strategic alliance with Shell Exploration Company B.V. to jointly explore in Southern West Africa.Initially, the alliance will focus on Namibia, where Kosmos has completed the farm-in to Shell's acreage in PEL 39, and Sao Tome & Principe where it has entered into exclusive negotiations for Shell to take an interest in Kosmos’ acreage in blocks 5, 6, 11, and 12.As part of the alliance, the two companies will also jointly evaluate opportunities in adjacent geographies.
Gulf of Mexico Lease Sale to Test Response to Trump-era Regulations
A federal auction of exploration leases in the Gulf of Mexico next week will test energy companies' appetite for acreage after the Trump administration left royalty rates for deepwater parcels unchanged, bucking an industry call to lower them.The U.S. Gulf of Mexico has faced waning interest in recent years as competition stepped up from other basins globally, as well as from onshore shale basins and Mexico's waters in the Gulf.Oil companies had lobbied for lower royalty payments for deepwater acreage because of the projects' high cost and long lead time before production can begin.
Kosmos Energy Acquired DGE for $1.23 Bln
Kosmos Energy has agreed to acquire Deep Gulf Energy (DGE) from its private equity owner for $1.23 billion, according to a bourse filing on Monday, expanding the deepwater oil and gas firm's operations into the Gulf of Mexico.Dallas-based Kosmos, which currently operates in Africa and South America, will pay $925 million in cash and $300 million in Kosmos common stock to acquire DGE, with the transaction expected to close towards the end of the third quarter.Acquiring DGE's business will increase Kosmos' production by more than 50 percent to 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) from arou
Tullow to Pay Seadrill $254 mln Over Ghana Dispute
A London judge ordered Tullow Oil to pay rig owner Seadrill around $254 million saying Tullow was wrong to end a rig contract in Ghana on grounds of force majeure over a maritime dispute, Tullow said on Tuesday.Tullow cancelled the contract for Seadrill's West Leo rig in December 2016 after Ghana set a drilling moratorium on its TEN offshore oil and gas field which is located in waters then claimed by both Ghana and Ivory Coast.An international tribunal last year ruled in favour of Ghana, allowing Tullow, the lead operator of the project, to resume drilling.
FPSO at Jubilee Oil Field to Close for Fix
The production vessel at Tullow's flagship Jubilee oilfield off Ghana's west coast will shut down next week for 21 days while it undergoes repairs, the country's power utilities said on Monday. The planned shutdown next Monday of the Kwame Nkrumah production vessel, which currently produces both oil and gas, will result in a cut to offshore gas supply, the companies said in a statement. They said any loss of power generation would be offset by generating additional power from the eastern port of Tema area. Tullow did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
BP, Kosmos Move Closer to Senegal and Mauritania Offshore Project
BP and Kosmos Energy have moved closer to approving development of the Tortue natural gas field offshore Mauritania and Senegal after the two West African countries agreed to split production from the cross-border field. Kosmos said on Monday it expected to make a final investment decision (FID) on the project in 2018, with first gas expected in 2021. BP had previously indicated it expected to reach an FID on the project towards the end of this year. The Greater Tortue Complex, which straddles the maritime boundaries of the two countries…
Exxon Nears Deal to Explore for O&G Offshore Mauritania
Exxon Mobil is close to signing a deal to explore for oil and gas offshore Mauritania, its first foray into the West African country, Mauritania's oil, energy and mines director said on Wednesday. An Exxon Mobil spokeswoman declined to comment on the deal, but said the Texas-based company does not yet have drilling activities in Mauritania. Interest has surged in oil and gas fields offshore of Mauritania and neighbour Senegal since big discoveries by Cairn Energy and Kosmos Energy, the latter now partnered with BP, in separate projects over the last three years.
BP's Africa Partner Kosmos Reports Positive Gas Drill Test
Oil and gas producer Kosmos Energy , which along with oil major BP Plc plans to produce gas off Mauritania coast, said a test drill showed that a key field would produce about 60 million cubic feet of gas per day. Kosmos, which was admitted to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market on Tuesday, claimed the well is capable of producing about 200 million cubic feet per day once fully operational. The company had in 2015 discovered a gas pool in the Tortue 1 exploration well…
China Cash Boosts African FLNG Projects
China aims to become lowest-cost seller of FLNG plants; its shipyards to build floating plants for African projects. China plans to pour almost $7 billion into floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) projects in Africa, betting on a largely untested technology in the hope that energy markets will recover by the time they start production in the early 2020s. Western banks are wary due to the depressed state of the shipping and gas markets, as well as the technical difficulties of pumping gas extracted from below the ocean floor…
Total Expands Oil Search Offshore West Africa
Total has signed a deal to explore for oil and gas offshore Mauritania, the French company said on Friday, expanding the scope of its search for new fields in the deep waters off West Africa's Atlantic coast. Under an agreement with Mauritania's state-run oil company SMHPM, Total will take a 90 percent operating stake in Block C7, which covers 7,300 square kilometres, and SMHPM will take the remaining 10 percent. The deal comes 10 days after Total announced that it had taken a 90 percent stake in the deepwater Rufisque Offshore Profond Block in neighbouring Senegal…
BP, Kosmos Announce 'major' gas find Offshore Senegal
BP and joint venture partner Kosmos Energy revealed a major gas discovery off Senegal on Monday, adding to other recent finds off the West African coast. Oil majors including BP and Total are investing in the waters of Senegal and Mauritania in the hope of repeating the recent exploration success of smaller players. "Yakaar-1...further confirms our belief that offshore Senegal and Mauritania is a world-class hydrocarbon basin," Bernard Looney, BP Upstream chief executive officer, said.
Total to Explore Senegal's Deepwater Potential
Total has signed an agreement to explore for oil and gas off Senegal's Atlantic coast, boosting the prospect of major oil developments in the West African country. Under the deal Total will explore in the deepwater Rufisque Offshore Profond Block where it will be the operator with a 90 percent stake and Senegal's state-run oil company Petrosen will hold the remaining 10 percent. The two parties also agreed to cooperate on exploration in "ultra-deep" offshore waters, with the potential for Total to become an operator there too. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
BP back in the black
BP has made a profit of $115 million for the year 2016. This compares to its loss of $6.5 billion in the previous year. The company in its report stated having focused on growth: strategic portfolio additions, new projects coming onstream, costs and spending reduced ahead of schedule. Bob Dudley, BP group chief executive, commented, "2016 was the year we made significant strides in creating a stronger platform for growth. We launched six major project start-ups - from Algeria to the Gulf of Mexico - and made final investment decisions on a further five major projects.
BP Strikes Deal on Mauritania, Senegal discoveries
BP announced that it has signed agreements with Kosmos Energy to acquire a 62% working interest, including operatorship, of Kosmos’ exploration blocks in Mauritania and a 32.49% effective working interest in Kosmos’ Senegal exploration blocks -- acreage which holds world-class deepwater gas discoveries and exploration prospectivity across both countries. The approximately 33,000 square kilometres of acreage covered by today’s agreements includes the Tortue field, estimated by Kosmos to contain more than 15 tcf of discovered gas resources.
