LNG

Ophir Energy, the UK company that lost its Equatorial Guinea licence in West Africa and the potential Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project, is still holding out hope of securing revenue from its stake in an onshore LNG export project in the East African nation of Tanzania.

Ophir was informed by the Equatorial Guinea Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons that the Block R Licence, which contains the Fortuna gas discovery, had expired on 31 December 2018.

The UK company had been unable to meet its schedule for a final investment decision on the Fortuna floating LNG project.

Ophir and OneLNG, a joint venture between Bermuda-based Golar LNG and global energy services company Schlumberger, had established a joint operating company to develop the Fortuna FLNG venture using Golar’s floating hull technology.

“As we announced on 5 January, the Block R licence in Equatorial Guinea has not been extended,” said interim Chief Executive Alan Booth.

“We are in negotiations to rationalise parts of our frontier exploration portfolio with the potential to not only bring in cash, but also importantly reduce our future exploration capital commitments and further improve our liquidity position,” he explained.

“We remain mindful of the potential value of our gas assets in Tanzania, notwithstanding the uncertainty over timing for their development,” stated Booth.

Ophir’s exploration offshore Tanzania and that of other companies has led to discoveries of 15 trillion cubic feet of gross contingent natural gas resources.

The assets have entered the pre-development phase for the Tanzania LNG project.

The UK company and its partners have drilled 16 wells since 2010, including the large Mzia and Jodari discoveries in Block 1.

Of the wells drilled, 11 have been successful exploration wells and five have been appraisals.

Production flow tests have also been completed on Jodari, Mzia, Pweza and Taachui discoveries.

Ophir retains a 20 percent interest in Blocks 1 and 4 and sold 60 percent to BG Group in 2010, now owned by Royal Dutch Shell, and sold a further 20 percent to Pavilion Energy of Singapore in 2014 for US$1.3 billion.

In 2014 the joint venture partners in Blocks 1 and 4 and the partners in Block 2, Equinor of Norway and ExxonMobil, signed an agreement to co-operate on a combined onshore LNG plant.

The Block 1 and 4 partners, as well as the Block 2 partners and the Government also signed an accord for the project, including the site of the LNG plant and the process for acquiring the land and for how any resettlement will be managed.

“The project is currently in the pre-FEED stage and is expected to enter into FEED following the completion of the LNG site acquisition, the geotechnical investigations and engineering studies,” said Ophir.

“In parallel, the concept selection is in progress for the upstream part of the project which will determine the configuration and production rates from each of the fields,” it added.

Ophir Energy, the UK company that planned a floating LNG export project offshore Equatorial Guinea, has been told by the West African nation that its exploration and production licence that underpinned the project has not been renewed.

Ophir Energy, the UK company based in London that was forced to suspend plans for LNG export projects in Equatorial Guinea and Tanzania, plans to move its head office to Asia and cut costs while awaiting the appointment of a new Chief Executive.

July 12 (LNGJ) - Ophir Energy, a stakeholder in the stalled Fortuna floating LNG project offshore Equatorial Guinea in West Africa, is still looking for a new CEO after the departure of Nick Cooper in May from the UK company. “Our search for a new CEO is making good progress and a number of highly experienced and qualified external candidates have been identified,” said Alan Booth, Interim CEO of Ophir. “The Board will of course provide further updates as and when appropriate,” he added. Booth said that since stepping into the role of interim CEO he had defined several goals, including to “explore every avenue to create value from our Fortuna FLNG project.”

Ophir Energy, the UK-based energy company and stakeholder in the Equatorial Guinea floating liquefied natural gas project offshore West Africa, said Chief Executive Nicholas Cooper was leaving the company amid delays in taking the FLNG joint venture to a final investment decision.