Ophir signs PSC for Equatorial Guinea offshore block

Oct. 18, 2017
Ophir Energy PLC, Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons, and the country’s national oil company GEPetrol have signed a production-sharing contract for Block EG-24 offshore Rio Muni.

Ophir Energy PLC, Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons, and the country’s national oil company GEPetrol have signed a production-sharing contract for Block EG-24 offshore Rio Muni.

Ophir will operate the block with 80% interest. GEPetrol will have 20% with the option to increase its stake by 10% if a commercial discovery is made. Ophir also is building the Fortuna FLNG project on Block R offshore Equatorial Guinea.

Block EG-24, formerly Block EG-20 and Block M, is one of 20 exploration areas marketed during the EG Ronda 2016 licensing round and is located to the west of producing fields Ceiba and Okume, covering 3,537 sq km.

The PSC for Block EG-24 is based on Equatorial Guinea’s model PSC and mandates an initial exploration period of two sub-periods of 2 years each plus two extensions of 1 year each.

During the exploration phase, Ophir will purchase and process existing seismic data and acquire and interpret 3,000 sq km of new 3D data. The PSC then specifies a development and production period, if a commercial discovery is made, of 25 years with one 5-year extension.

In addition to Ophir, other companies awarded blocks in EG Ronda 2016 during the summer were Offshore Equator PLC with Block EG-23, Clontarf Energy PLC with Block EG-18, Elenilto with Block EG-09, Taleveras with Block EG-07, and Atlas Petroleum LLC and Strategic Fuel Fund with Block EG-10.

The country also signed a separate PSC with ExxonMobil Corp. via direct negotiation for Block EG-11, which is contiguous to the company’s Zafiro oil field.

Equatorial Guinea started producing in 1991 when Alba field came online, which was followed by Zafiro oil field in 1995. The country currently produces 342,000 boe/d.