Page 84: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Apr/May 2013)

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Seplat CEO Austin Avuru spoke at

IP Week, London.

the largest reserves base, account- ing for around 86% of the total sub-region’s reserves as of January 2012, according to the BP Statistical

Review 2012. In recent years, new

West Africa Focus

West Africa Focus production countries: Chad, Ghana,

Côte d’Ivoire, and Mauritania have joined Nigeria, Angola, Cameroon and others in the sub-region that have discovered oil in commercial quantities.

IP Week

For the mature basins, as in the

Niger Delta in Nigeria, a combina- highlights West African plays tion of promising geology and avail- able acreage through acquisitions

Exploration activities in deepwater second biggest region in the world has attracted a range of companies.

West Africa recorded the high- after Latin America). Africa current- For instance, Shell Petroleum est number of successes in the ly supplies about 9% of total world Development Nigeria has divested world during 2007 to 2012, Seplat oil, but this is set to grow to about itself of eight blocks in the past

Petroleum Development Co. MD/ 15% of the world oil supply in 2020 four years to consortia made up of

CEO Austin Avuru told delegates due to new discoveries in the con- foreign and local partners. Further at Energy Institute’s International tinent especially in West Africa and opportunities for divestment are

Petroleum Week, London 2013. East Africa. expected over the coming years as

He said that in the 50 years since The plays in the West Africa larger companies give way to small- frst production in Nigeria there Transform Margin, deepwater West er independents and indigenous are many investment opportuni- Africa, and offshore East Africa, are companies due to local content ties in the West Africa sub-region, the areas currently attracting the policies. Mergers and acquisitions from exploration in frontier areas to most exploration interest. Since the will continue to increase. As oppor- acquisition of mature assets, where Jubilee discovery in Ghana in 2007, tunities are squeezed, consolidation secondary discoveries (deeper plays companies are exploring other parts across the sector will increase.

and by-passed plays) have been suc- of the region (Ghana to Mauritania), Avuru said that security risks, war cessful. looking for analogous Cretaceous and political tensions were some

Signifcant growth potential exists turbidite prospects. Offshore explo- of the issues preventing growth in in the sub-region. According to rations in Sierra Leone and the Côte the sector. Market price constraints,

Wood Mackenzie, there are about d’Ivoire are all promising. lack of enabling infrastructure for 40 billion barrels of discovered Oil and gas activity in West investment to thrive, and the threat but undeveloped reserves, plus 55 Africa extends from Mauritania to of cost infation were also limiting billion barrels of yet-to-fnd (the Angola. Nigeria and Angola have factors. -Meg Chesshyre

New gas for Ghana into similar arrangements for the marketing of natural gas

Gasol’s affliate, African Power Generation (AfGen), has in other West African countries, including Benin and Togo, signed a memorandum of understanding with Ghana and will work with AfGen to create a strategic and mutually

National Gas in relation to the development of a number of supportive partnership with Ghana Gas.

specifc projects aimed at providing additional gas to Ghana, Alan Buxton, COO at Gasol, says: “We are very pleased that as well as supporting, in a complementary manner, the Ghana Gas has agreed to explore collaboration with AfGen in longer term security of gas supply needed to address the a broadly defned partnership, including the importation and nation’s power generation defcit. supply of non-indigenous gas to customers in Ghana, thereby

Under the memorandum of understanding, AfGen and assisting in bridging the Ghanaian gas defcit for power

Ghana Gas propose to explore the establishment of various generation, serving industrial/mining users and assisting joint venture arrangements for the supply of imported in progressing the government of Ghana’s Better Ghana natural gas into Ghana, as well as the downstream sale and Agenda. We look forward to developing the relationship marketing of gas to power generators and industrial/mineral established which is a platform for building a mutually processing enterprises in Ghana. Gasol has already entered benefcial and long-term partnership.”

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