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.

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.”

May 14 (LNGJ) - Two LNG project stakeholders in West Africa, Ophir Energy of the UK and Kosmos Energy of Texas, will jointly develop an exploration and production licence offshore Equatorial Guinea. Ophir, a stakeholder in the Fortuna floating LNG venture with other companies offshore Equatorial Guinea, acquired its newest Block EG-24 exploration licence in nation’s 2017 bidding round. Kosmos, a joint venture partner with BP of the UK in two FLNG projects offshore Mauritania and Senegal, will acquire a 40 percent non-operated interest in Block EG-24 from Ophir. The deal includes Kosmos paying for the cost of a block-wide 3D seismic survey during the first exploration period of the licence. It will also partially carry Ophir for the cost of a well if one is drilled. “Kosmos is a logical partner for us in EG-24 as its team have considerable prior experience of the Rio Muni Basin,” said Nick Cooper, Ophir Chief Executive.

Marathon Oil Corp. and its partners said they signed an agreement with the Government of Equatorial Guinea and third parties to establish the framework for processing natural gas volumes at the onshore liquefaction plant at Punta Europa on Bioko Island.

May 3 (LNGJ) - Australian Asia-Pacific LNG stakeholder Santos has sold its non-core Asian exploration and production portfolio for US$221 million to UK company Ophir Energy. Ophir itself is involved in the LNG business through the Fortuna floating joint venture planned for offshore Equatorial Guinea. “The sale is consistent with Santos’s strategy to realise value from its late-life non-core assets and will result in Santos making country exits from Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Bangladesh,” said the Australian company. Santos Chief Executive Kevin Gallagher said of the transaction: “The sale of the Asian assets further delivers on our undertaking to simplify our business and focus on our five core long-life natural gas (LNG) assets in Australia and Papua New Guinea.”

Ophir Energy Chief Executive Nick Cooper expressed regret that the UK exploration and production company had been unable to meet its schedule for a final investment decision on the Fortuna floating LNG project planned for offshore the West African state of Equatorial Guinea.

Ophir Energy, the UK exploration and production company with assets in Africa and Asia, said it awarded the upstream contract for the Fortuna floating LNG project offshore Equatorial Guinea to a joint venture comprising a subsidiary of oil and gas services firm Schlumberger and UK-based company Subsea 7.

Ophir Energy of the UK, the leader of the Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project offshore Equatorial Guinea, said intensive efforts were being made by all partners to achieve a final investment decision before the end of the fourth quarter of 2017.

The Equatorial Guinea floating LNG project owners said the 2.2 million tonnes per annum of offtake volumes from the West African joint venture has gone to global commodities firm Gunvor as the preferred buyer.