Africa’s independent operators have outlined new efforts to maximize production in Africa’s mature oil markets – including Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Angola – during the Upstream E&P Forum at African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2024.
In Gabon for instance, Perenco was reported to have launched appraisal drilling near its existing Hylia South West discovery, aimed at identifying additional reservoirs, as well as estimate oil volumes. Meanwhile Trident Energy had early this year, launched a three-well infill drilling campaign on its Block G, regarded as home to the mature Ceiba and Okume fields, located offshore Equatorial Guinea.
“We are building our strategy around innovation and fit for purpose technology. You need to find economic ways to develop those fields. Technology is key in enabling us to extend the life of the field,” says Armel Simondin, CEO of Perenco SA.
Jean-Michel Jacoulot, CEO of Trident Energy also said: “Operating mature fields is about mindset – having a very granular approach, taking care of the details, and revisiting all of the information acquired on the asset. Our creativity in taking over mature fields and reducing operating costs is where we can make a difference. IOCs sell assets because they don’t fit in the portfolio anymore – companies like us are going to fight for the barrel and for the dollar.”
Capacity constraints, ageing infrastructure and increased operational downtime have however continued to pose challenges to operators of mature oil fields. According to Rahul Dhir, CEO of Tullow Oil, these issues can be addressed through cost-control mechanisms and investment in infrastructure and facility upgrades, which have seen high exploration success rates in its mature markets.
“At our flagship Jubilee Field [in Ghana], we began sourcing the OEM contract internally, which has given us more control and lower costs. It’s a very holistic approach,” says Dhir, adding, “In Gabon, we have drilled approximately one exploration well per year over the last four years, with a success rate of about 80%. The existing infrastructure is there.”
Panelists emphasized the role of regulatory stability in effectively managing mature oil reservoirs, along with contractual frameworks that account for the unique, capital-intensive nature of mature fields.
“This stage of asset needs as much of a development plan as the original development concept. To make those five-year investment plans, you need an underlying licensing and regulatory environment. This gives us the runway to be confident to invest in the asset. Underlying stability of the environment is critical,” Paul McDade, CEO of Afentra said.
“Mature fields are not planned for in the early stage of contracts – many contracts are designed for Greenfield investment. There is still progress to be made on improving these contracts. Mature fields require major investment because you need to compensate for the loss of energy in the reservoir,” says Simondin.
Meanwhile Afentra is reportedly focusing on optimizing, redeveloping and extending the lifespan of Africa’s legacy assets. In Angola, the company recently gained approval for the acquisition of Block 23, focusing on high-quality, long-life shallow water production assets with significant upside.
“In Angola, the phase of mature fields is quite early. With the asset we have, we have already discovered resources sitting near infrastructure that just haven’t been developed. We will go after that, before we even have to start spending exploration dollars,” McDade said.