Industry News - Offshore Engineer Reports - Sonangol hopes high for ‘lucky’ sevenSonangol hopes high for ‘lucky’ seven
from: Offshore Engineer
by: Jennifer Pallanich
Monday, April 07, 2008
Home to discoveries such as Girassol, Kizomba and Dalia, Angola is wooing investors to bid on seven more offshore blocks. Jennifer Pallanich kicks off OE’s Angolan review with a report on the latest offerings.
As winners of the Angola 2005/06 Offshore Licensing Round prepare to drill, national oil company Sonangol is courting bids on seven more offshore blocks.
‘We are encouraged by the participation,’ Sonangol vice president Syanga Abilio said during the Houston roadshow last month that some 40 plus companies attended. Other roadshows were held in London and Luanda. ‘This is more or less what we have seen two years ago.’
In 2005/06, Sonangol offered seven offshore blocks for bid and awarded all seven blocks to foreign operators, including Eni, Petrobras, Total, Tullow Oil and Vaalco. Twenty companies submitted proposals. It was the first public opening of tenders since the country gained independence in 1975.
‘We received very good offers from bonuses and work programs,’ Abilio said.
Sonangol is offering a variety of blocks. Three blocks are onshore, and the remaining seven are offshore in the Benguela Basin, Kwanza Basin and the Lower Congo Basin. One block is in shallow water, three are in deepwater, and the final three are in ultra-deepwater.
Lumen Sebastiao, a senior geologist at Sonangol, said the ultra-deepwater blocks have great potential as they abut blocks 31 and 32, sites of numerous discoveries. ‘In one word: opportunity,’ Sebastiao says.
Based on results from blocks 31 and 32, ‘we think that those blocks are presenting good possibilities of finding oil,’ adds Abilio.
The NOC backs up that belief in its estimates of the potential of those three ultra-deepwater blocks, assigning them a combined estimated resource potential of 6.8 billion barrels.
The variety of blocks on offer should appeal to a range of players, says IHS Consulting general manager Tim Zoba. Sonangol has retained IHS to facilitate the roadshows.
‘What Sonangol wants is more diversity in the companies,’ he says, adding the attendance at the Houston roadshow indicated some success in that approach. The attendees are a ‘bigger variety, from the ExxonMobils to the one- and two-man independents’.
‘There is space, fields for those small companies and challenge for the big oil companies,’ Abilio says.
The attendance backs the types of discoveries reported from the country.
‘They’ve had phenomenal growth in production, and phenomenal growth in discoveries,’ Zoba says.
Production in Angola is currently 1.7 million b/d, and Sonangol is shooting to boost output to 2 million b/d next year. The NOC reports proven reserves of 12.5 billion barrels and estimates resources of 40 billion. Sonangol says it has an 80% success rate on wells drilled.
Alexandre Pessoa Vaz, director of hydrocarbon concessions for Sonangol, says investors should be reassured by Angola’s stability and transparency since independence. ‘These issues are important to investors,’ he says.
Pre-qualification deadline is 13 November. Sonangol aims to publish the results of the pre-qualification and launch the bid process on 13 December. Sonangol is reviewing the terms of the production sharing agreements for each block and expects to announce the terms in December. The deadline for proposals is 13 March 2008, and the public opening of proposals is set for 14 March. On 14 April, Sonangol plans to make public the results of its analysis of the proposals. Contract negotiations are slated for 5-18 May with government approval of the concessions running through 20 June. Signing should be complete by 1 July.
Block 9 is 4000km2 in water depths up to 1000m in the Benguela Basin. Two commercial 2D surveys cover 919km by WesternGeco and 138km by GX Technology, and additional 2D surveys cover 3017km. Seven wells have been drilled in the block: Abacaxi-1, Denden-1, Goiaba-1, Jambo-1, Maboque-1, Mucua-1, and Pitanga-1.
According to Sonangol, the block has potential plays in the Albian to late Aptian shelf-edge carbonates, tertiary channel/lobe sands and pre-salt lacustrine carbonates and sands. Sonangol estimates block 9 could contain 400 million barrels of resources.
The data package for block 9 includes seismic lines and shot point location map coverage; database, well reports and well logs for seven wells; geologic data consisting of one cross section and eight seismic sections; a geology reservoir assessment of the Aptian Albian Carbonates; legal details; and maps.
Block 19 is 4860km2 in water depths of 200-1500m in the Kwanza Basin. Commercial 2D surveys cover 2425km by WesternGeco and 135km by GX Technology, and a commercial 3D survey by WesternGeco covers 2445km2. One well, the Mariposa-1, has been drilled in the block.
The block holds several leads in Albian and Mucanzo sands, Albian carbonate shoals and pre-salt Cuvo sands with potential large entrapped hydrocarbon volumes, according to Sonangol. The NOC also believes these plays are similar to those in adjacent blocks. Sonangol estimates block 19 could contain 800 million barrels of resources.
The data package for block 19 includes seismic lines and shot point location map coverage; database, well reports and well logs for 10 wells; geologic data consisting of one cross section and 10 seismic sections; four studies, including a regional structural study, aeromagnetic geophysical survey, hydrocarbon potential of deepwater offshore Angola, and compendium of geochemical data and graphic information; legal details; and maps.
Block 20 is 4860km2 in water depths of 300-1500m in the Kwanza Basin. Two commercial 2D surveys cover 4444km by WesternGeco and 156km by GX Technology, and a commercial 3D survey by WesternGeco covers 808km2. Two wells have been drilled in the block: Baleia-1 and Delfim-1.
Sonangol believes the block has potential for reservoir targets in Albian carbonate shoals, Miocene channels and pre-salt Cuvo sands similar to plays in adjacent blocks. Sonangol estimates block 20 could contain 700 million barrels of resources.
The data package for block 20 includes seismic lines and shot point location map coverage; database, well reports and well logs for eight wells; geologic data consisting of one cross section and eight seismic sections; four studies, including evaluation of deepwater Central Angola sequence, stratigraphy of a tectonically rafted carbonate platform, prospectivity report and regional physiographic setting of Albian carbontes; legal details; and maps.
Block 21 is 5000km2 in water depths of 300-1600m in the Kwanza Basin. Two commercial 2D surveys cover 2168km by WesternGeco and 63km by GX Technology, and a commercial 3D survey by WesternGeco covers 4919km2. Two wells have been drilled in the block: Iona-1 and Kangandala-1.
According to Sonangol, the block has potential at Albian and Miocene levels over a shelf-slope and Miocene alone in the salt mini-basin domain. Both plays are similar to adjacent blocks, and the NOC estimates block 21 could contain 500 million barrels of resources.
The data package for block 21 includes seismic lines and shot point location map coverage; database, well reports and well logs for eight wells; geologic data consisting of one cross section and six seismic sections; two studies, including Angola block 21 Portfolio Review 1999-2002 and Block 21 Evaluation Report; legal details; and maps.
Block 46 is 1975km2 in water depths of around 2500m in the Lower Congo Basin. Two commercial 2D surveys cover 713km by WesternGeco and 116km by GX Technology, and a commercial 3D survey by WesternGeco covers 1628km2. No wells have been drilled in the block.
Sonangol says the block has potential in the prolific tertiary channel/lobe play system in the Miocene and possibly in the Oligocene that have similarities to successful plays in adjacent blocks. Sonangol estimates block 46 could contain 2.8 billion barrels of resources.
Block 47 is 2220km2 in water depths of around 2500m in the Lower Congo Basin. Two commercial 2D surveys cover 1170km by WesternGeco and 159km by GX Technology, and a commercial 3D survey by WesternGeco covers 2404km2. No wells have been drilled in the block.
According to Sonangol, the potential for block 47 is similar in nature to that of blocks 46 and 48. Sonangol estimates block 47 could contain 1.78 billion barrels of resources.
Block 48 is 3580km2 in around 2500m of water in the Lower Congo Basin. Two commercial 2D surveys cover 1312km by WesternGeco and 278km by GX Technology, and a commercial 3D survey by WesternGeco covers 2578km. No wells have been drilled yet.
According to Sonangol, the potential for block 48 is similar in nature to that of blocks 47 and 48. Sonangol estimates block 48 could contain 2.25 billion barrels of resources.
The data package for blocks 46, 47 and 48 includes seismic lines and shot point location map coverage; database, well reports and well logs for 10 wells; geologic data consisting of three cross- and eight seismic sections; legal details; and maps.
Sonangol will await the results of Onshore and Offshore Licensing Round 2007/08 before it plans another round, Abilio said. OE
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