Petrolin Group is active in a number of African countries. Petrolin Group’s investments in the upstream hydrocarbon exploration and production sector in Africa take the form of direct oil block farm-ins or equity investments in independent African companies that own oil assets to be developed.
Petrolin Group has created strategic partnerships with a number of oil companies, both international and local, in order to develop a number of oil projects. Petrolin Group’s technical and financial resource has permitted the realisation of many African oil investments.
NIGERIA
Ogbele and Omerelu
In 2005, Petrolin Group acquired a strategic participating interest in Aradel (former Niger Delta Exploration & Production - NDPR), a Nigerian company which operates the marginal fields Ogbele (OML54) and Omerelu (OML 53), ceded to Aradel by Chevron and NNPC in the onshore Niger Delta.
The cumulative production of the Ogbele field, since its acquisition by Aradel, at year-end 2015 exceeded 10 million barrels of oil and 36 billion cubic feet of gas. Its average production in the first half of 2020 is 10,000 barrels per day and 41,040 million cubic feet of gas per day.
The Omerelu field is scheduled to begin producing in 2021.
The remaining reserves known for these two fields are estimated at 133 million barrels of oil and 1,070 billion cf of gas.
OML 34
In 2012, the Nigerian company ND Western Ltd, in which Petrolin Group has a significant participation, acquired in an international tender the 45% participating interest from Shell/Total/ENI in the onshore OML 34 in the Niger Delta, operated by an affiliate of the National Oil Company, NNPC. OML 34 supplies a great part of the gas required by the Nigerian domestic market, via the Escravos to Lagos pipeline System (ELPS), and supplies adjoining countries Benin, Togo and Ghana with gas via the West African Gas Pipeline.
Four commercial oil discoveries in OML 34 were made during the 1960s but there remain still nineteen (19) additional geological structures to be explored.
The daily production of oil from OML 34 in 2020 averaged 20,000 barrels per day, plus 400 million cubic feet of gas with three fields in production. The addition of Utorogu, Ughelli East and Ughelli West can considerably increase production up to 60,000 barrels per day if the required investment is approved. The remaining proven reserves in this block, are estimated to be 338 million barrels of oil and 2,480 billion cubic feet of gas.
ELSEWHERE IN AFRICA
In 2010, Petrolin Group took a significant participation in the capital of Surestream Petroleum Ltd., which holds interest in the capital of the Swala Oil and Gas Company, as well as participating interests in exploration blocks situated in four African countries: Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Zambia and Tanzania.
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO
- Three (3) onshore blocks
- Yema and Matamba-Makanzi, operated by Surestream and
- N’Dunda, which is operated by ENI.
MALAWI
- Two (2) blocks on Lake Malawi.
- Block 2 and
- Block 3 operated by RAKGas.
ZAMBIA
- Block 42, operated by Surestream.
TANZANIA
- A gas field in production situated in Tanzania, Kiliwani North, operated by Aminex.
These above-cited exploration assets, which are situated in underexplored regions in areas recognized as propitious for oil, hold great potential now in the process of being evaluated.
Furthermore, in the Middle-East, in Yemen, until 31 January 2015, Petrolin was directly involved in an Exploration and Production license, East Saar (Block 53).
Two commercial discoveries were made in Block 53: Sharyoof in 2000, with peak production of 25,000 bpd; and Bayoot in 2006. Cumulative production from these two fields came to 53,837,000 barrels of crude as at 31 January 2015.
Petrolin Group and her partners withdrew from Yemen for security reasons.