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First oil field discovered off the coast of Senegal

Written by Paulo Nogueira
Published 25/10/2018 às 07:03

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Senegal oil discovery

Partners in the SNE field, offshore Senegal, have submitted the development and exploration plan to the government with approval expected later this year.

The Joint Venture comprises Cairn as the current operator with 40% Working Interest (WI) together with partners Woodside 35% WI, FAR Ltd 15% WI and Senegal National Oil Company, Petrosen 10% WI (Petrosen has the right to increase your equity to 18% in development).

Australia's Woodside gained entry into the SNE project in 2016 after buying a 35% stake from ConocoPhillips. In 2017, Woodside became lead developer for the SNE Field Development-Phase 1, with plans to transition to operator of the RSSD blocks containing the SNE field during 2018.

Cairn said on Thursday that Woodside has already exercised its option to become the operator of the SNE field development. Work is already underway to facilitate the operator handover, which is now subject only to government consent.

First oil in 2022

The development and exploration plan outlines the entire multiphase oil and gas development. The field will be developed in a series of phases with plans for around 500 million barrels of oil (mmbbl) and gross production of 100.000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) with first oil targeted in 2022. oil, commercial gas sales to Senegal must begin.

Tender responses for the FPSO installation and supporting subsea infrastructure have been received and are being evaluated and ready for Front End Engineering Design (FEED) planned later this year. In parallel with the detailed engineering work, an Environmental and Social Impact Assessment study was submitted to the National Technical Committee.

The presentation of the plan coincides with the opening today of the MSGBC conference for the oil and gas industry in Dakar, Senegal.

FAR Managing Director Cath Norman said: “The submission of the development plan for the SNE is a major milestone for our company. Since the PND discovery four years ago, FAR has participated in three more oil discoveries in Senegal and has successfully drilled 7 PND appraisal wells at a 100% success rate for all 11 wells. The SNE was the world's largest oil discovery for 2014 and, more importantly, the first offshore oil field discovered off the shores of Senegal. ”

Norman added: "We look forward to seeing this progress towards developing first oil in 2022 and first gas in around 2024."

FAR arbitration

It is noteworthy that the FAR objected to the 2016 sale of the 35% stake in ConocoPhillips to Australia's Woodside, claiming that completion of the transaction between ConocoPhillips and Woodside was subject to the partners' rights to anticipate and the approval of the government of Senegal.

Therefore, FAR in June 2017 filed a request with the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris to initiate arbitration proceedings to resolve the current Joint Operating Agreement dispute in relation to FAR's right to advance the sale of ConocoPhillips' interest in Rufisque, Sangomar and Sangomar Deep Joint Venture offshore Senegal.

The FAR reported at the time that the arbitration process and cost structure was expected to take less than a year to complete, with the expected cost to the FAR to be around US$1 million.

Following the appointment of the President of the Tribunal in April 2018, the parties resolved the terms of reference and related procedural documents.

At the end of July this year, the FAR said: “Current indications are that a final hearing in the arbitration is unlikely to take place before the second half of 2019, pending the parties to formalize their respective positions and go through several pre-hearings. procedures”.


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Paulo Nogueira

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Paulo Nogueira

With a technical background, I worked in the offshore oil and gas market for a few years. Today, my team and I are dedicated to bringing information from the Brazilian energy sector and the world, always with credible and up-to-date sources.

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