As part of efforts to relaunch the country’s economy after the devastation of Covid-19, the government of Equatorial Guinea will see three exploration wells drilled in Trident Energy-operated Block G in 2021, along with refurbishment and well intervention works across other assets, according to the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons. Trident Energy will drill three wells in Block G in 2021 – each of which is expected to take 33 days to complete – with an estimated start date in April. Located 15 km offshore Equatorial Guinea, Block G is home to the Ceiba and Okume fields, and is set to yield new development opportunities following the company’s acquisition of 4D seismic in the first quarter of 2020.

Noble Energy will conduct refurbishment work on its Aseng floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit over a period of 10 days, with the objective of maintaining safety, reliability and productivity of the infrastructure, as well as complying with regulations of the ABS (leading U.S. offshore classification society). Intervention works will also be carried out in wells 5P and WI-1.

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Meanwhile, maintenance works will be conducted on the Zafiro, Jade and Serpentina infrastructures, with execution planning activities carried out ahead of well repairs on the Jade Platform by 2022, along with optimization of production and management of inactive wells. Serving as the country’s most prolific asset, the ExxonMobil-operated Zafiro field was producing 90,000 barrels per day (pre-COVID-19) via the Jade fixed production and drilling platform and Serpentina FPSO.

Details of the 2021 Work and Budget Program follow an announcement by the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons last week (http://bit.ly/3phvUbq) forecasting $1.1 billion in upcoming foreign direct investment into the oil and gas sector.

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As of October, total crude oil production in the country in 2020 stands at 35.15 million barrels, translating to an average daily production of 115,250 barrels per day. Total condensate production amounts to 9.48 million barrels, translating to an average daily production of 31,079 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The Ministry has set its sights on boosting hydrocarbon output by facilitating the influx of foreign capital and enabling operators to carry out capital-intensive E&P activities in 2021.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
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