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Thursday, January 24, 2019
Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons has confirmed that no further extension has been granted to Ophir’s Block R production sharing contract.
The Ministry issued a notice informing the London-based company of its decision in December, after Ophir’s exploration license expired. As a result, Ophir is no longer operator of the block, which has now returned to the State.
“The Ministry recognizes and strongly appreciates the commitment of Ophir in its exploration activities in Equatorial Guinea and welcomes further investment in appropriate opportunities in the hydrocarbon sector,” said H.E Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima.
The Ministry commended Ophir’s exploration efforts in the Block R license, which contains six commercial discoveries.
Ophir’s work program began in 2008 and three exploration wells resulted in the Fortuna and Lykos discoveries. The company planned to install a floating liquefied natural gas plant, named Fortuna FLNG, on the block, pending investment in the project. Floating LNG has emerged as a template for developing offshore gas in a well-supplied global gas market.
Covering an area of approximately 2,450 sq km, Block R is located in Distal Niger Delta, approximately 140 km off the coast of Bioko Island, in water depths ranging from 600 meters to 1,950 meters. It is estimated to hold 3.4 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of recoverable gas reserves, of which the Fortuna field accounts for approximately 1.3 Tcf, the Silenus Complex holds approximately 1.2 Tcf, the Tonal discovery holds about 0.5 Tcf and the other smaller discoveries together hold 0.4 Tcf.
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