Independent Operators Lead Push to Extend Lifespan of Africa’s Mature Fields – Africa.com
During the Africa Energy Week Upstream Exploration and Production Forum: Investing in African Energy 2024, independent operators outlined new initiatives to maximize production in Africa’s mature oil markets, including Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Angola.
Africa’s mature oil markets are seeing a number of independent companies drive production growth, prioritizing incremental exploration and innovative technologies to breathe new life into existing assets.
In Gabon, Perenco has initiated appraisal drilling near its existing Hylia South West discovery to identify additional reservoirs and estimate oil volumes. Meanwhile, earlier this year, Trident Energy launched a three-well infill drilling campaign in Block G offshore Equatorial Guinea, home to the mature Ceiba and Okume fields.
“We are building our strategy around innovation and fit-for-purpose technologies. You need to find economic ways to develop these areas. Technology is our key to extending the life of this area,” said Armel Simondin, CEO of Perenco SA.
“Operating mature areas is about mindset – taking a very granular approach, paying attention to detail, and revisiting all the information available from the assets. Our creativity in taking over mature areas and reducing operating costs is where we can make a difference .International oil companies are selling assets because they no longer fit into the portfolio – companies like ours will fight for oil and dollars,” said Trident Energy CEO Jean-Michel Jacoulot. express.
Capacity constraints, aging infrastructure and increased operational downtime continue to pose challenges for operators of mature oil fields. Tullow Oil CEO Rahul Dhir said these issues can be addressed through cost control mechanisms and investments in infrastructure and facility upgrades, which have seen high exploration success rates in mature markets.
“At our flagship Jubilee Field (Ghana), we started sourcing OEM contracts in-house, which gave us more control and lower costs. It is a very comprehensive approach,” Dhir said, adding , “In Gabon, we have drilled about one exploration well per year for the past four years with a success rate of about 80%. The existing infrastructure is there.”
Panelists highlighted the role of regulatory stability in effectively managing mature oil reservoirs, as well as contractual frameworks that take into account the unique capital-intensive nature of mature fields.
“An asset at this stage requires the same development plan as the original development concept. In order to develop these five-year investment plans, you need an underlying permitting and regulatory environment. This gives us the runway to invest in the asset with confidence. The foundation of the environment is stable Sex matters,” said Paul McDade, CEO of Afentra.
“Mature fields are not planned in the early stages of contracts – many contracts are designed for greenfield investments. There is still progress to be made in improving these contracts. Mature fields require significant investment because you need to compensate for energy losses in the reservoirs, ” Simondin said.
Afentra specializes in optimizing, redeveloping and extending the life of African heritage assets. In Angola, the company recently received approval to acquire Block 23, focusing on high-quality, long-life shallow-water production assets with significant upside.
“In Angola, the stages of maturing oil fields are quite early. With the assets we have, we have discovered untapped resources close to the infrastructure. We will do it before we start spending exploration dollars,” McDade said.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of the African Energy Chamber.
