The contract makes CNOOC Africa Holding the operator of Block 7. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

CNOOC Limited's wholly owned subsidiary, CNOOC Africa Holding Ltd, has entered into an exploration, development and production contract (EDPC) with Midland Oil Company for Block 7 in the Republic of Iraq

Block 7 is located in Province Diwaniyah, spanning across an area of 6,300 square kilometers.

Operator status

With a 100% interest, the contract makes CNOOC Africa Holding the operator of Block 7. The first stage of the exploration period shall be three years. 

CNOOC has a long-standing presence in Africa, from Uganda's Albertine Graben region to nearly US$14bn interests in Nigerian operations, among others. 

Discussions revolved around Eni's broad asset portfolio in Egypt. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Italian oil & gas major, Eni, reiterated its natural gas interests in Egypt as the company CEO, Claudio Descalzi, met the President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi 

Egyptian Oil Minister, Karim Badawi, and Eni's chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, were also present at the meeting.

Developing gas hub

Discussions revolved around Eni's broad asset portfolio in the country that compises onshore as well as offshore. The company operates in Egypt through its subsidiary IEOC. The country's central role in developing a gas hub in the eastern Mediterranean was also highlighted given the presence of important gas processing and LNG export infrastructures in the region. 

Eni has already offloaded its first LNG cargo in Piombino from Egypt’s Damietta liquefaction plant in 2023. 

Explorators such as Eni might also make use of invaluable data that have been recently released from Egypt deepwaters by geoservices provider PGS, with one of the latest being the area between the Nile delta and the Herodotus Basin.

Descalzi emphasised the company's decarbonisation and energy transition path as well, including methane emissions reduction, energy efficiency solutions and renewables.

The visit was also an opportunity to recall the 70th anniversary of Eni's presence in Egypt, which was, in 1954, the first country outside of Italy with which the company began working.

Exploration activities began with the drilling of A1-96/3 (Hasheem Prospect). (Image source: NOC Libya)

Eni and bp have resumed their exploration activities in Libya for the first time in the Area B (96/3) of Ghadames Basin, where onshore operations were haulted since 2014

Repsol is also preparing to restart drilling in Murzuq Basin, and OMV is set to begin operations in Sirte Basin in the coming weeks. 

Last month, the Libya-Italy Roundtable and VIP Networking Evening took place in Rome with a purpose to unlock new partnership and investment opportunities, especially targetting private sector participation. 

Exploration activities in Area B (96/3) began this month, with the drilling of the first exploratory well, A1-96/3 (Hasheem Prospect) that is projected to reach a final depth of approximately 10,327 ft (3,147 m).The well is located about 35 kms from the Wafa field and approximately 650 kms from Tripoli. Several promising geological formations in the A1-96/3 well will be tested for oil and gas presence. 

Supervision by Mellitah Oil & Gas joint venture

Contracted following the Fourth Bid Round Contract of 2007, Eni operates the area in partnership with bp and the Libyan Investment Authority. The Mellitah Oil & Gas joint venture, with its extensive experience in the region, particularly in developing and managing the Wafa field, is overseeing the drilling operations and all related activities for the well.

The Mellitah venture that comprises the National Oil Corporation of Libya and Eni North Africa, is also spearheading the revamping of the Bauri Gas Utilisation project. 

The drill ship Santorini has arrived on location. (Image source: Sintana Energy)

Blocks governed by Petroleum Exploration License 83 (PEL 83), namely 2813A and 2814B, in Orange Basin Namibia has undergone a second exploration and appraisal campaign

The drill ship Santorini has arrived on location, and operations associated with the Mopane 1-A well have commenced. 

This appraisal well is the first of an up to four-well programme potentially consisting of two exploration wells and two appraisal wells. This second campaign on PEL 83 is predicated on providing additional insights into the scope and quality of the Mopane complex. 

Previously, an inaugural two-well exploration campaign that commenced in Q4 2023 resulted in multiple discoveries of significant columns of light oil in high-quality reservoir sands providing for an initial estimate of original oil in place of 10 bn boe. A drill stem test was also conducted resulting in an infrastructure constrained flow of 14,000 boed. 

World class opportunity

Initial analysis suggests the reservoirs have good porosities, high pressures and high permeabilities in large hydrocarbon columns with very low oil viscosity, and no CO2 nor H2S. The flows achieved during the well test have reached the maximum allowed limits, positioning Mopane as, potentially, an important commercial discovery.

“We look forward to the continuing progress on PEL 83, further unveiling of the potential and quality of the Mopane complex. These efforts should provide additional insights into this world class opportunity and into our broader Orange Basin portfolio located at the heart of this emerging hydrocarbon province,” said Robert Bose, CEO of Sintana.

PEL 83 is operated by a subsidiary of Galp Energia. Sintana maintains an indirect 49% interest in Custos Energy, which in turn owns a 10% working interest in PEL 83. The National Petroleum Company of Namibia (NAMCOR), also maintains a 10% working interest. This finding adds to the treasures unveiled from other licenses in the region that host Graff-1, La Rona-1,Jonker-1 and Venus-1.