Africa: Gabon

AFRICA

Gabon

A West African regional meeting was called in November 1999 by Nigerian President Obesanjo. The agenda was to create a future platform to resolve and manage conflicts arising from natural resource exploitation. Gabonese President Omar Bongo hosted the meeting, which was attended by presidents from Nigeria, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe, and foreign ministers from Cameroon and Angola. The resulting organization is called the Gulf of Guinea Commission.

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Exploration. Last year’s tender saw Santa Fe Snyder win an Exploration / Production Sharing Contract (EPSC) for the Agali block last December. The block lies in 200 to 8,000-ft waters off the northern coast. The initial exploration term lasts five years and includes seismic acquisition and the drilling of one well.

In May 2000, the government put 27 blocks up for bid, including 13 onshore, five deepwater and nine shallow-water tracts. The round closes October 13 this year.

Fusion Oil led a consortium of five Australian E&P firms and signed an EPSC last November for the Themis Marin and Iris Marin offshore exploration blocks. Both contracts have nine-year initial terms and require drilling three wells.

Amerada Hess plans to drill two exploration wells this year on its Padouk and Ebene offshore concessions. At least one well is planned for 2000 in Ozigo and Bilinga, two onshore areas that are located in the Dianongo basin adjacent to the giant Rabi Kounga oil field.

Development. Last year, Perenco completed reworking marginal fields Oguendjo, Gombe and M’Wengui. Together with the drilling of six horizontal wells at Echira and Moukouti, production has increased by 10,000 bopd. Recent activity has included pipeline installation to tie in Gombe-Turnix-Pelican fields to Perenco’s Oguendjo offshore terminal. The company’s total daily Gabonese production is about 32,000 boe.

Production. Last August, production began at Marathon-operated Tchatamba South field in the Kowe permit, some 20 mi offshore Gabon, in 150-ft waters. The field is producing about 20,000 bopd of 44° API oil from two wells. Combined production from Tchatamba South and Tchatamba Marin fields is 36,000 bopd.