Petroleum Africa
Find us on: 
Wednesday, January 29, 2014
San Leon Energy signed a MoU with Chevron Lummus Global (CLG) to exclusively cooperate in respect of the oil shale upgrading technology required to produce high quality synthetic crude oil from the raw shale which San Leon will be producing from its Timahdit oil shale license area in Morocco.
The MoU will result in a detailed evaluation by CLG focused on implementing proven proprietary CLG technology on the raw shale oil produced at the proposed Timahdit Plant to be designed and delivered in cooperation with Enefit Qutotec Technology (EOT), a JV between Enefit and mineral and metals processing technology group Outotec. The proposed Timahdit Plant, as described in the Initial EOT Evaluation Study, will be built using the latest ‘Enefit280’ process and EOT’s experience.
Chevron Lummus Global will propose a design for an oil shale upgrading unit to produce high quality synthetic crude oil which will then be refined locally. CLG has already licensed its hydrocracking technology to the Samir Refinery in Mohammedia, Morocco.
The initial EOT study proposes that the Timahdit Plant will have three ‘Enefit 280’ units. The plant will be designed with the ability to increase capacity to exploit the estimated resource of 600 million bbl of shale oil within San Leon’s Timahdit license area as suggested by historical data and confirmed by the EOT study.
The company is currently conducting a core drilling operation to extract samples from the Timahdit oil shale deposit for testing at the Enefit Bench Scale plant located at EOT’s R&D center in Frankfurt, Germany. The results of these tests are expected to be available in Q2 2014.
An updated feasibility study for the Timahdit Oil Shale project is currently planned to be completed by year-end. This will facilitate the completion of project finance to fund the construction of the proposed plant envisaged to begin after 2015. Initial reactions from financial institutions have been very encouraging based on the strong interest in investing in Morocco’s energy future.
Timahdit’s shale oil yield in the awarded area is considered to be the highest in Morocco with an average of 100 l/t in the rich layers and has significantly less moisture content than many other international oil shale deposits. The project will also include power generation facilities.
Executive Chairman, Oisin Fanning commented: “I very much welcome CLG as our upgrading partner in the Timahdit project. CLG is a world leader in upgrading technology who brings real strength to our team. Our continued cooperation with our existing partners, ONHYM in Morocco, along with Enefit and now CLG, brings further credibility to San Leon’s commitment to commercially develop oil shale in Morocco.”
" alt="First LNG Realized at the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim Project">
" alt="United Energy Acquires Western Desert Producer APEX">
" alt="Baker Hughes Announces Major Gas Technology Orders for Venture Global LNG">
" alt="ReconAfrica: Naingopo Results Demonstrate a Working Petroleum System">
" alt="Tullow Highlights 2025 Operational Plans in Ghana">
" alt="TotalEnergies to Supply 1.5 TWh to STMicroelectronics in France Over 15 years">
" alt="Rockhopper Reaches Final Settlement with United on Egypt’s Abu Sennan Concession">
" alt="Oil & Gas Crucial for African Growth: AEC Calls for Industry Support to Defend African Market">
