LNG

The state-owned oil and natural gas company in Namibia in southwest Africa has signed an agreement with Chevron Corp. granting the US major an 80 percent operating and working interest in a key offshore block.

The terms of the transaction are that Namibia National Petroleum Corp. (Namcor) and Custos Energy, a Namibian independent oil and gas exploration company focused on attracting investment and expertise to the Namibian offshore industry, will each retain a 10 percent carried interest in Petroleum Exploration Licence 82 located in the Walvis Basin to Chevron Namibia Exploration Limited's majority stake.

Namibia has four oil and gas exploration and production basins north to south, comprising the Namib Basin in the north, then the Walvis Basin in Central Nambia, followed by the Luderitz Basin just to the south of that and then the more prolific so far Orange Basin in the far south near South African waters.

Orange discovery

Galp Energia of Portugal said on April 22, 2024, that its Mopane discovery in the southern Orange Basin could contain 10 billion barrels of oil equivalent or more.

The Namcor-Custos-Chevron deal concerns the Walvis Basin in the middle of the oil and gas resource area and offshore Walvis Bay in Central Namibia.

Namcor said in a statement that this strategic collaboration underscored its dedication to maximizing the exploration potential and development of Namibia's offshore resources, particularly in under-explored basins holding significant promise.

The transaction is pending regulatory approvals from the Namibia Ministry of Mines and Energy.

“Together, we will leverage significant expertise and resources to propel our national interests and economic growth, turning possibilities into prosperity for Namibia,” said Namcor’s Interim Managing Director Ebson Uanguta in a statement.

Namcor added that it anticipated a substantial surge in oil and associated natural gas production estimates following the analysis of existing data.

Ample seismic

Analysts noted that around 70 percent of the total block area is covered by extensive existing seismic data comprising over 3,500 kilometres of 2D and 9,500 kilometres of 3D data.

Previous drilling activity on PEL 82 discovered the Murombe-1 and Wingat-1 wells.

Results confirmed regional extensions and the presence of the Barremian-Aptianoil-prone source rock, known as Kudu Shale.

“We are pleased to announce the continuing expansion of our in-country partnership with Chevron through their entry into PEL 82,” said Knowledge Katti, Chairman and Chief Executive of Custos.

“This is one of the most advanced and interesting opportunities offshore Namibia outside of the Orange Basin.” Katti explained.

“We are pleased to see our efforts over the last decade on PEL 82 result in this important step forward adding further to Namibia’s world-class offshore opportunity,” he stated.

ExxonMobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. reported first-quarter declines in profits and revenues on lower natural gas prices while both are advancing with their major takeover transactions amid a pre-emption dispute over key assets in the new South American oil and gas hub of Guyana.

QatarEnergy has celebrated a South Korean steel-cutting of the first of its new generation of chartered liquefied natural gas carriers that will transport output from two LNG expansions and with most of the newbuilds booked for shipyards in South Korea.

QatarEnergy said it was joined by Samsung Heavy Industries and US investment bank JP Morgan Asset Management in a special ceremony on Geoje Island in Korea to mark the official launching of QatarEnergy’s LNG fleet expansion project. 

The Doha-based company said the shipyard event signified an extension of QatarEnergy's “international collaborations and commitment to global partnerships” and follows the October 2022 steel-cutting at Hudong-Zhonghua, the Chinese shipyard to where a far smaller part of the shipbuilding contract was awarded.

The Korean ceremony was held before executives of companies involved in the project including Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al-Thani, the Chief Executive of Qatargas who attended on behalf of Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and who is also President and CEO of QatarEnergy.

Samsung was represented by Jin-Taek Jung, the CEO of SHI, and Andy Dacy, the CEO of JP Morgan's Global Transport Group, an owner of LNG carriers to support its commodities business.

Slot reservations

The steel-cutting ceremony in South Korea followed QatarEnergy's 2020 decision to enter into Ship Slot Reservation Agreements with three Korean shipyards: SHI, Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

Subsequently, in 2022, QatarEnergy signed multiple time-charter parties with various shipowners, including the shipping unit of JP Morgan Asset Management, a fund investing in a wide array of energy transportation assets.

Qatar has two expansion projects, the North Field East (NFE) joint venture and the North Field South (NFS) venture. When both are completed Qatar's production will surge to 126 MTPA from the current 77 MTPA.

The carrier fleet expansion programme is being conducted alongside and about 80 LNG vessels are being built, including the replacement of older ships in the current Qatari fleet.

The surge in LNG newbuilds for Qatar and other proejcts will take the global fleet in several years to more than 800 vessels.

The main South Korean shipbuilders won all the first big round of Qatari orders so that the vessels are ready for the start-up of the first production expansion project, the North Field East venture.

China newbuilds

Qatar has also ordered at least half a dozen new LNG carriers from the Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding Group of Shanghai for the Ras Laffan expansion’s cargo transportation.

While QatarEnergy's partners in the LNG production expansions are primarily US and European energy majors, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., the Chinese major known as Sinopec, also agreed in April 2023 to take a stake in the NFE expansion.

Sinopec had already signed a cargo supply deal with QatarEnergy in November 2022 to receive 4 MTPA of Qatari cargoes from 2026.

With a total investment of $28.75 billion, the NFE project will increase Qatar's annual LNG export volumes in the first instance from 77 MTPA to 110 MTPA.

Sinopec signed an equity participation agreement with QatarEnergy to take 1.25 percent of the shares in the NFE joint venture.