WATCHING THE WORLD EQUATORIAL GUINEA OPENS FOR BUSINESS

With David Knott from London Nestling among the oil and gas producing countries on the coast of West Africa is Equatorial Guinea, an odd collection of territories that has decided it wants a piece of the action. Equatorial Guinea comprises the island of Bioko off the coast of Cameroon, the Rio Muni coastal enclave sandwiched between Cameroon and Gabon, and the tiny island of San Antonio, far southwest of Bioko in the Atlantic Ocean.

June 28, 1993

3 min read

Nestling among the oil and gas producing countries on the coast of West Africa is Equatorial Guinea, an odd collection of territories that has decided it wants a piece of the action.

Equatorial Guinea comprises the island of Bioko off the coast of Cameroon, the Rio Muni coastal enclave sandwiched between Cameroon and Gabon, and the tiny island of San Antonio, far southwest of Bioko in the Atlantic Ocean.

The capital is Malabo on Bioko Island. Here President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, an army general, oversees what a British Foreign Office official euphemistically calls "a single party regime."

EMS Ltd., Oxted, U.K., landed the job of organizing Equatorial Guinea's first exploration licensing round, with bidding due to close in December at the earliest. All unlicensed prospective acreage will be offered.

VIRGIN TERRITORY

Don Holmes, managing director of EMS, explained that the Rio Muni area is virtually virgin territory. Six wells were drilled during 1968-91, the last three by Ste. Nationale Elf Aquitaine. Elf held a major portion of Offshore Rio Muni acreage until 1992, when it pulled out after fulfilling commitments.

London independents Hamilton Oil Co. Ltd. and Enterprise Oil plc took over the block nearest the border with Gabon, where some acreage is in dispute. Hamilton acquired 590 line km of seismic data, but will not drill two commitment wells until a border is agreed on. Adding spice to the dispute, in Gabon's recent licensing round Elf won some acreage now licensed to Hamilton/Enterprise.

Available Rio Muni concessions are split into seven offshore blocks extending about 100 km offshore on the continental shelf and slope and five onshore with total area of 13,000 sq km. Water depths of offshore blocks reach 6,500 ft. Onshore blocks are available only in the coastal sedimentary basin. Basement rocks cover most of the interior.

BIOKO PRODUCTION

Three blocks off northern Bioko, near producing fields off Nigeria and Cameroon, are already under license. Walter International Inc., Houston, holds one block containing Equatorial Guinea's only producing field, Alba. It produces 4,000-5,000 b/d of condensate, according to EMS.

Two blocks are held by United Meridian International Corp., Houston, a combine of Conoco Inc., British Petroleum Co. plc, and Den norske stats oljeselskap AS.

United Meridian won acreage in mid-1992 and has not begun drilling.

Free acreage around Bioko is not yet split into blocks. Existing licenses are defined by 15 min grids covering about 750 sq km.

Norman Hempstead, EMS consulting geophysicist, said Rio Muni is an area of complex geology. Six wells along a 160 km coastline provide only a preliminary assessment. Recent surveys found many potential trapping mechanisms, he said, while three wells found source rocks and identified potential reservoirs.