A bevy of Big Oil majors are making new commitments to developing oil and gas projects in West Africa, specifically in Senegal, Mauritania and Angola.
The British energy major BP said its three-well exploration campaign offshore of Senegal and Mauritania has proven successful, confirming the world-class scale of natural gas resources.
Likewise, a consortium led by the French energy giant Total, as well as Exxon Mobil and others, said they will widen their production license offshore of Angola through 2045 as they go on to see more future promise in the already-successful venture.
Total also is gaining interest in additional blocks offshore of Angola, including making plans to develop a new production hub in the region known as the Kwanza Basin.
“We are pleased to determine once again our pioneer spirit and our commitment to continue developing Angola’s energy sector by becoming the first company to undertake a development in the Kwanza Basin,” said Total Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne.
Total and its partners, including BP, already have made four discoveries in the basin, giving them enough courage to start moving forward with plans to build a massive production hub, Pouyanne said.
As for BP’s other successes, especially in Mauritania, the company worked with its partner, Dallas-based Kosmos Energy, on making new finds.
Most recently, in November, the Orca-1 well offshore Mauritania succeeded in all five of the gas sands deposits it basically targeted, BP said. The well was then further deepened to reach an additional target, which also encountered gas.
“This is an exciting result as it proves that our seismic data is identifying hydrocarbon reservoirs deeper than we had previously thought,” said Howard Leach, BP’s head of exploration. “We have identified a large prospective area with considerable resource potential in southern Mauritania. We will now conduct further appraisal drilling to help inform future development decisions.”