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Tuesday, February 21, 2023
Zenith Energy has lost its bid to operate the Tilapia oilfield. The Ministry of Hydrocarbons of the Republic of the Congo awarded Pointe Noire-based Olive Energy E&P the license to the Tilapia oilfield by presidential decree on February 15.
Zenith Energy had previously submitted a successful bid for a 25-year license to operate the Tilapia oilfield (Tilapia II) in 2020 and completed an in-depth technical and financial review of the company by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons of the Republic of the Congo.
Zenith Energy will now look to recover its costs of over $14 million for work performed to date. Zenith reports that it has engaged a legal representative to negotiate the full repayment of an original principal amount of $5.3 million plus accrued interest owed by Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (SNPC), the national oil company of the Republic of the Congo, to Anglo African Oil & Gas Congo S.A.U (AAOGC), a fully owned subsidiary of the company which it acquired in 2020, for past work performed during the Tilapia I license.
Zenith also confirmed that the legal claim launched by AAOGC against Société de Maintenance Pétrolière (SMP), the rig contractor employed to perform drilling services in wells TLP-103 and TLP-103C of the Tilapia oilfield during 2018-2019, is progressing in the Paris Commercial Court (the “Claim”). The Legal Claim against SMP is for approximately $9 million.
In a company statement, Luca Benedetto, Chief Financial Officer of Zenith, commented: “This represents disappointing news. However, the Company’s opportunity to recover an amount of approximately $15 million due to past activities in connection with the Republic of the Congo remains unchanged.
“This will now become our primary focus, whilst we continue to work towards completing our acquisitions in other jurisdictions for large, revenue-generating energy production and development assets with transformational potential.”
Tilapia is an onshore-offshore permit of over 50 square km located north of Pointe-Noire. The Tilapia field has been producing from well TLP-101ST since May 2007.
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