bd toolkit west africa - march 2011 (sample)

1

Disclaimer All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, Derrick Petroleum Services.

The facts of this report are believed to be correct at the time of publication but cannot be guaranteed. Please note that the findings, conclusions and recommendations that Derrick Petroleum Services delivers will be based on information gathered in good faith from secondary sources, whose accuracy we are not always in a position to guarantee. As such, Derrick Petroleum Services can accept no liability whatever for actions taken based on any information that may subsequently prove to be incorrect.

2

Table of Contents

Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 4

Major / Integrated ....................................................................................................................................... 5

BG Group plc .......................................................................................................................................... 6 BP plc ...................................................................................................................................................... 8

Chevron Corporation............................................................................................................................. 10 ConocoPhillips ...................................................................................................................................... 12 Eni SPA ................................................................................................................................................. 13 Exxon Mobil Corporation ..................................................................................................................... 16 Galp Energia ......................................................................................................................................... 19

Hess ....................................................................................................................................................... 20 Lukoil Oil Company ............................................................................................................................. 21

Marathon Oil Corporation ..................................................................................................................... 22 Murphy Oil ............................................................................................................................................ 24 Repsol YPF ........................................................................................................................................... 25 Royal Dutch Shell PLC ......................................................................................................................... 27 Statoil ASA ........................................................................................................................................... 29

Total SA ................................................................................................................................................ 31

Large E&P .................................................................................................................................................. 34

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation ......................................................................................................... 35

Canadian Natural Resources ................................................................................................................. 38 Inpex Corp............................................................................................................................................. 39 Nexen Inc. ............................................................................................................................................. 40

Noble Energy ........................................................................................................................................ 41 Tullow Oil plc ....................................................................................................................................... 43

Mid-sized E&P ........................................................................................................................................... 47

Afren plc ............................................................................................................................................... 48

Cobalt International Energy Inc. ........................................................................................................... 52 Heritage Oil PLC .................................................................................................................................. 53

HRT O&G ....................................................................................................................................... 54 Lundin Petroleum .................................................................................................................................. 56 Maurel & Prom ..................................................................................................................................... 58

PA Resources AB .................................................................................................................................. 60 Premier Oil ............................................................................................................................................ 62

SOCO International plc ......................................................................................................................... 64

Small E&P .................................................................................................................................................. 66

BowLeven PLC ..................................................................................................................................... 67 Chariot Oil & Gas ................................................................................................................................. 69

ERHC Energy Inc. ................................................................................................................................ 70 Exile Resources Inc. .............................................................................................................................. 72 First Australian Resources (FAR) ......................................................................................................... 73 Hyperdynamics Corporation ................................................................................................................. 75

InterOil Exploration and Production ASA ............................................................................................ 76 Mart Resources Inc. .............................................................................................................................. 77 Ophir Energy plc ................................................................................................................................... 78 Panoro Energy ASA .............................................................................................................................. 80 Petrel Resources PLC............................................................................................................................ 82 Rialto Energy Limited ........................................................................................................................... 83 ROC Oil ................................................................................................................................................ 84 Sterling Energy plc ................................................................................................................................ 86

Tower Resources ................................................................................................................................... 87

3

Vaalco Energy Inc. ................................................................................................................................ 88

NOC ........................................................................................................................................................... 90

CNOOC Limited ................................................................................................................................... 91 Korea National Oil Corporation (KNOC)/Dana Petroleum .................................................................. 93 KUFPEC ............................................................................................................................................... 95 MOL Group ........................................................................................................................................... 97 OAO Gazprom ...................................................................................................................................... 98

ONGC ................................................................................................................................................... 99 Petrobras.............................................................................................................................................. 100 Petronas ............................................................................................................................................... 102 PetroSA (Pty) Ltd. ............................................................................................................................... 104 Sasol Limited ...................................................................................................................................... 106

Sinopec Corp. /Addax Petroleum........................................................................................................ 108

Private E&P .............................................................................................................................................. 113

African Petroleum Corp Ltd ............................................................................................................... 114 Amni International Petroleum Development Company Limited ........................................................ 115 CAMAC Energy Inc. .......................................................................................................................... 116

Kosmos Energy LLC .......................................................................................................................... 118 Maersk Oil........................................................................................................................................... 120 Oranto Petroleum ................................................................................................................................ 122

Oriental Energy Resources .................................................................................................................. 124 Perenco S.A. ........................................................................................................................................ 125 Rocksource .......................................................................................................................................... 127

Svenska Petroleum .............................................................................................................................. 128 Vanco Energy ...................................................................................................................................... 130

Others (Utility/Industrial/Trading) .......................................................................................................... 131

Conoil Plc ............................................................................................................................................ 132

Edison SpA ......................................................................................................................................... 133 GDF Suez SA ...................................................................................................................................... 134

Mitsubishi............................................................................................................................................ 135 Oando Plc / Equator Exploration ........................................................................................................ 136 RWE Dea AG ...................................................................................................................................... 138

Sojitz Corporation ............................................................................................................................... 139 Vitol BV .............................................................................................................................................. 140

Appendix 1- Short Profiles ...................................................................................................................... 142

Appendix 2- Deals in Play ........................................................................................................................ 147

4

Introduction The BD Toolkit – West Africa Report is a must-have for business development and new ventures professionals working on deals in West Africa.

The report provides detailed profiles of 70+ companies with significant upstream operations in West Africa. The detailed profiles have been categorized according to company type: Major/Integrated, Large E&P, Mid-sized E&P, Small E&P, Private E&P, NOC and Others (Utility/Industrial/Trading). Each detailed profile contains basic company information, information on upcoming exploration activities and development projects, a map of producing assets, comments on focus areas for business development, and a list of historical transactions in West Africa.

In Appendix 1, summary profiles of 40+ companies with minor upstream operations in West Africa have been provided.

In Appendix 2, all E&P assets currently available for sale in West Africa have been listed.

The data for this report has been sourced from

Derrick E&P Transactions Database

Derrick Planned Exploration Wells Database

Derrick E&P Projects Database

Derrick Companies Database

Rystad Energy UCube

5

Major / Integrated

6

BG Group plc

Key Information

Company Category Major/Integrated

Origin Country United Kingdom

Market Capitalization ($B) 81.12

No. of employees 6,191

Production (MBOE/d) 646

Address Thames Valley Park, Reading, Berkshire, RG6 1PT United Kingdom Tel: +44-11-8935-3222

Web address www.bg-group.com

Operations

Upcoming Exploration Activities

Block 332 is located offshore Nigeria. Acquisition of 3D seismic was completed in 2007, followed by seismic processing and interpretation, aimed at identifying drillable prospects.

OPL 286-DO is located offshore Nigeria and contains an existing discovery, Boi-1. Two wells were drilled (Ogide 1x and Boi-2), both of which encountered non-commercial hydrocarbons. New seismic data was acquired in 2009 and processing commenced in 2010. Drilling is now planned in 2011.

OPL 284-DO is located in deep water, offshore Nigeria. Full block reprocessing of the seismic data is under way.

Development Projects

No development projects in West Africa.

Producing Assets

No producing assets in West Africa.

BD Focus

Within Africa, BG Group is focusing on North Africa, in line with its strategy to source natural gas from cost competitive markets and supplying it to high value markets, especially in Europe.

Transaction History

Year Transaction Asset Summary 2007 BG acquires 20% interest in Nigeria

deep offshore block from Equator Exploration for $75m

OPL 323 is located 80 km offshore in water depths of 1,300 to 2,000 metres. Interpretation of regional 3D seismic data covering the block has identified six large prospects. Horizon estimates the prospects to have aggregate prospective resources of 4.8 billion barrels at the best estimate level.

2007 BG sells Mauritanian interests to KUFPEC for $128m

PSC A covers Block 3 and shallow water Blocks 4 and 5. A gas field (Banda) has been discovered in PSC A.

PSC B covers deep water Blocks 4 and 5. Five oil discoveries have been made

7

Year Transaction Asset Summary in PSC B (Chinguetti, Tiof, Tevet, Tevet Deep and Labeidna). The Chinguetti field commenced production in February 2006. However, production declined quickly thereafter and on 31-December 2006, it stood at 22,160 bpd. The other discoveries are still under evaluation.

2006 BG acquires 45% interest in offshore Nigerian block from Sahara Energy

Block 332 is located in water depths of 200-1,000m. The work program will be carried out in two phases, the first involving the acquisition of 3D seismic and one exploration well.

34

Large E&P

35

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation

Key Information

Company Category Large E&P

Origin Country United States



Production (MBOE/d) 643.83

Address 1201 Lake Robbins Drive, The Woodlands, TX 77380

United States

Tel: +1-832-636-1000

Web address www.anadarko.com

Operations


Block SL 07B-10 in Liberian basin is located offshore Sierra Leone. In 2009, Anadarko announced a deepwater discovery at the Venus prospect, which confirmed the presence of an active petroleum system in this frontier basin. A second exploration well Mercury-1 was drilled on the block in Q4 2010. The well encountered oil in it. The consortium is planning to drill a third exploration well on the Jupiter prospect in H2 2011.

Blocks LB-15, LB-16 & LB-17 covers an area of 3400, 3225, and 3150 sq Km respectively and are located offshore Liberia. During 2009, a 6,000 sq km 3D seismic survey has been completed on the blocks. A key target called Montserrado (Cobalt) in Block 15 is planned to be drilled in H2 2011.

Block CI-103 is located offshore Cote d’Ivoire and occupies an area of about 2,603 sq km. A 600 sq km of 3D seismic survey was completed on the block in 2007. An exploration well is planned on the Fan 4 West prospect to be drilled in H2 2011.The upside resource potential of the prospect is estimated to be about 230 MMBOE.

Block CI-105 is located offshore Cote d’Ivoire. AN exploration well South Grand Lahou-1 was drilled on the block in 2009. The well failed to encounter any hydrocarbons in it. One more exploration well is planned to be drilled on the Lower Bandama Channel prospect in H2 2011.The upside resource potential of the prospect is estimated to be about 300 MMBOE.

West Cape Three Points Block is located offshore Ghana. The operator drilled an exploration well Teak-1 on the block in Q4 2010.

The well discovered oil in it. Teak-2 appraisal well is planned to be drilled in 2011.Teak-2 appraisal well is planned to be drilled in 2011. As per Anadarko's Feb 2011 Presentation, three more prospects namely Banda Deep/Cenomanian, South Central Channel and Dahoma Updip have been identified on the block which are planned to be drilled from Q2 to Q3 2011.


Tweneboa, located in the deepwater Tano License offshore Ghana, was discovered on March 9, 2009, on Block 2 by the Tweneboa-1 exploration well. In January 2010, the Tweneboa-2 appraisal was drilled to a depth of roughly 12,665 feet. The well discovered hydrocarbons in it. A mere 16 miles (25 kilometers) west of Tullow's Jubilee field, Tweneboa may prove a possible candidate for a subsea tie-back to the Jubilee facilities. Two appraisal wells Tweneboa-2 and Tweneboa-3 were drilled in 2010 which encountered oil in them. Tweneboa-4 appraisal well would be drilled in 2011 after which a high-impact well Enyenra-2A would be drilled to appraise the Owo oil discovery. The significant oil discovery, made by the Owo-1 exploration well has now been named the Enyenra field. The Company is assessing the development options for the Tweneboa and Enyenra (Owo) fields in the Greater Tweneboa Area.Producing Assets

36

Producing Assets

BD Focus

Anadarko is an exploration- focused company. It spends as much on exploration (20% of 2010 capex) as it spends on developing its megaprojects (22% of capex).

West Africa, in particular the offshore areas stretching from Sierra Leone to Ghana, are a key component of its global portfolio.

Transaction History

Year Transaction Asset Summary 2008 Addax Petroleum acquires

additional 51% interest in JDZ Block 3 from Anadarko

Block 3 covers an area of 164,700 acres (667 sq km). The water depth ranges from approximately 1,700m to 2,100m. As at December 31, 2008, the gross best estimate unrisked prospective oil resources for Block 3 were 273.3 MMbbl (87.3 MMbbl risked).

2009 Tullow Oil acquires 10% interest in two deepwater blocks offshore Sierra Leone from Anadarko

Blocks – SL-07 and SL-06/07 located offshore Sierra Leone. The blocks cover an area of 10,986 sq km in water depths of 50 to 3750 metres. An exploration well commenced drilling on the Venus-B prospect in the Block SL-06/07 earlier in August with the Belford Dolphin and is expected to take 45 days to drill. This is the first deepwater well to be drilled in this region and represents an excellent opportunity to prove a new petroleum system in the deepwater Liberian Basin and significantly expand the western limit of the Jubilee play. The well is a 16,400 foot test targeting the deepwater cretaceous fan play. A large number of follow up prospects have also been identified in this acreage.

2009 Tullow Oil farms out 40% interest in exploration block offshore Cote d’Ivoire to Anadarko

Block CI-103 is located offshore Cote d’Ivoire and covers an area of 2,603 sq km. CI-103 is located immediately south of Block CI-102 in water depths of 200 meters and deeper. 3D seismic processing and reprocessing has been completed across the block and interpretation of the extensive Cretaceous turbidite channels and fans, analogous to the Jubilee field, is nearing completion. The block has gross upside potential of 500 mmbo.

2009 Tullow Oil acquires 25% interest in three blocks offshore Liberia from Anadarko

Tullow Oil plc has concluded a farm-in agreement with Anadarko whereby Tullow is acquiring a 25% interest in three blocks offshore Liberia - LB-15, LB-16 and LB-17. A large 3D survey is currently being acquired to delineate high potential prospects identified on existing 2D data. Prior to the Tullow farm in, Repsol and Woodside held 17.5% interest while Anadarko had 65% and operatorship of each block.

47

Mid-sized E&P

52

Cobalt International Energy Inc.

Key Information

Company Category Mid-size E&P

Origin Country United States


No. of employees 56

Production (MBOE/d) -

Address Two Post Oak Central, 1980 Post Oak Blvd., Suite 1200, Houston, Tx

United States

Tel:+1-713-579-9100

Web address www.cobaltintl.com

Operations


Block 21 (4,900 sq km) is located in the deep-water offshore south-central Kwanza Basin, Angola. The block has oil potential of 500 MMBOE(23-26 degree API). Cobalt International Energy has identified about 13 prospects on Block 21, out of which two prospects namely Bicuar and Cameia, would be drilled in 2011.

Block 9 (4000 sq km) is located offshore Benguela Basin, Angola. The block has oil potential of 400 MMBOE(25-28 degree API). The Company is planning to carry out a new 3D seismic survey to delineate prospects to be drilled in late 2012.

Diaba license is located 50 km offshore Gabon. The license occupies an area of about 9,075 sq km. Total and Cobalt have completed a 2D seismic survey over the license in 2008. A large, 6,000 sq km 3D seismic survey was completed on the block in 2010. A number of prospects have been identified on the license for drilling in late 2012.



Producing Assets


BD Focus

Cobalt’s strategy is to have material ownership in world-scale prospects. Its current focus is deepwater GoM and pre-salt prospects in Angola and Gabon. The company is well capitalized and has $1 billion in cash.

Transaction History

Year Transaction Asset Summary 2008 Total sells 21.25% stake in

Gabon block to Cobalt International Energy.

Diaba permit covering an area of 9,075 sq km is operated by Total Gabon and is located fifty miles off the coast of Gabon with water depths between 100 and 3,500m.

66

Small E&P

69

Chariot Oil & Gas

Key Information

Company Category Small E&P

Origin Country United Kingdom


No. of employees -


Address Admiral Park, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 3EL,

United Kingdom

Tel:+44-20-7466-5000

Web address www.chariotoilandgas.com

Operations


Blocks 1811 A&B in total cover an area of about 10,926 sq km and lie in Namibia basin, offshore north Namibia. Reinterpretation of the seismic data has confirmed the presence of four main structural leads in the Tapir Complex: Tapir North, Tapir, Tapir South and Tapir Deep. Further seismic attribute analysis and interpretation is ongoing. The existing inventory consists of five prospects and two leads with a resource potential of about 1,940 mmbls.

Block 2714A, offshore Namibia covers an area of 5500 sq km. A further 3D seismic acquisition in block 2714A of approximately 1,500 sq km was completed in September 2009. Currently processing and interpretation of 3D seismic data is ongoing. The existing inventory consists of seven prospects and one lead with an resource potential of about 6,983 mmbls (gross).

Blocks 2312A&B are located on an arch between the Walvis and Luderitz Basins, offshore Namibia. Chariot has completed over 3,000 line km of 2D seismic data acquisition across these blocks. Following the processing and interpretation of this data, the Company announced that these licences contain 3.3 billion barrels of unrisked prospective resources. Three leads have been reported; Klipspringer, Hartebeest and Oryx with a potential of about 4,318 million barrels. Further 3D seismic acquisition is planned in 2011.



Producing Assets


BD Focus

Chariot is currently looking to farm-out interests in its Namibian properties (in addition to the Petrobras farm-out already done) to further mitigate risk and finance its exploration activities.

Transaction History

Year Transaction Asset Summary 2009 Petrobras acquires 50% interest

in exploration block offshore Namibia from Chariot Oil & Gas

Block 2714A covers an area of approximately 5,500 sq km and is located in the Southwest African Coastal Basin, between Orange and Luderitz sub-basins, offshore southern Namibia. A 3D seismic program of 1,000 sq km was concluded by Enigma in the block earlier. The processing and interpretation of these data were ongoing in May 2009. A further 3D seismic acquisition in block 2714A of approximately 1,500 sq km was completed in September 2009.

http://www.chariotoilandgas.com/

90

NOC

91

CNOOC Limited

Key Information

Company Category NOC

Origin Country China



Production (MBOE/d) 895.9

Address No. 25 Chaoyangmenbei Dajie, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010,

China

Tel: +86-10-8452-1604

Web address www.cnoocltd.com

Operations


Exploration Block S covers an area of about 2,287 sq km and is located, offshore Equatorial Guinea. Two exploration wells, Anduak-1 & Akeng-1, were drilled on the block. Both the wells did not encounter any hydrocarbons and were plugged and abandoned.

OML 130 covers an area of about 500 sq km and is located in the deepwater region of Niger Delta. The license contains the Akpo field, which was discovered in 2000. Besides Akpo, OML 130 contains three other significant discoveries Egina, Egina South and Preowei. The license also contains a range of further exploration prospects.


Egina field is located in Niger Delta. The field covers approximately 1,295 sq km (500 square

miles) and is in water depths of 1,550m (5,085 feet). Front-end engineering and design (FEED) for Egina field is underway. The field is expected to start production in 2013.

Producing Assets

BD Focus

As an offshore operator, the prolific deep waters of West Africa are a key region for CNOOC.

CNOOC is likely to be an aggressive acquirer in West Africa over the coming months. However, it has suffered two setbacks in its BD efforts - the failed attempt to acquire Marathon’s stake in Block 32, Ghana, and Kosmos’s stake in the Jubilee field, Ghana.

CNOOC has identified 23 licenses in Nigeria in which it would like to buy stakes, including 16 operated by Shell, Chevron and Exxon Mobil which are up for renewal.

92

Transaction History

Year Transaction Asset Summary 2009 [Cancelled] CNOOC and Sinopec

jointly acquire 20% interest in Block 32 offshore Angola from Marathon Oil for $1.3b

Block 32, covering an area of 5,090 sq km, is an oil rich deepwater exploration block with 12 oil discoveries. The block is located about 150 km off the coast in a water depth of 1400 to 2200 meters. Twelve previously announced discoveries on Block 32 include: Gindungo, Canela, Cola, Gengibre, Mostarda, Salsa, Caril, Manjericao, Louro, Cominhos, Colorau and Alho. Conceptual development studies are underway in order to establish the feasibility of a first development area in the central southeastern part of Block 32. The block is estimated to contain 1.4 billion barrels of oil reserves, the production of which is slated to start in 2012.

2006 CNOOC acquires 45% interest in Nigerian license from South Atlantic Petroleum for $2.268b

OML 130 covers an area of approximately 500 square miles in the Niger Delta and is a deep water block with water depths ranging around 1,100 m to 1,800 m. OML 130 contains the Akpo field, which was discovered in 2000. Besides Akpo, OML 130 contains three other significant discoveries Egina, Egina South and Preowei. The block also contains a range of further exploration prospects.

2006 CNOOC acquires 35% interest in Nigerian oil block for $60m

OPL 229 (1,376 sq km) is located in the central Niger Delta, in water depth ranging from swamp in the northwest to over 100 feet to the south of the block. OPL229 is still in the exploration stage.

113

Private E&P

114

African Petroleum Corp Ltd

Key Information

Company Category Private

Origin Country Nigeria

Market Capitalization ($B) -

No. of employees -


Address AP House 54/56 Broad Street P.O Box 512, Lagos,

Nigeria

Tel: +234-1-260-0050

Web address www.africanpetroleum.com.au

Operations


Blocks 8 and 9 are located offshore Liberia covering approximately 7,200 sq km with licenses extending from the shallow inner shelf to the deep offshore region. APCL in completing a full geological model for Blocks 8 and 9, which will include the interpretation of 3D seismic data and the identification and ranking of potential drill targets.

Block A1 and Block A4 are located offshore Gambia. The blocks cover a combined total area

of 2,668 sq km. The government of Gambia has approved the agreement and the extension of the initial exploration period for each of the blocks by a further two years, expiring December 31, 2013.



Producing Assets


BD Focus

African Petroleum’s blocks in Liberia and Namibia are in a region that is of much interest to many larger companies. African Petroleum could do a farm-out to finance some of its exploration activities.

Transaction History

Year Transaction Asset Summary 2010 African Petroleum to acquire

60% interest in two blocks offshore Gambia.

Alhamdulilah License Block A1 and License Block A4 are located in offshore Gambia. The blocks cover a combined total area of 2,668 sq km.

2010 Global Iron acquires two exploration blocks offshore Liberia from African Petroleum for $435m.

Blocks 8 and 9 are located in offshore Liberia. The blocks cover approximately 7,200 sq km with licenses extending from the shallow inner shelf to the deep offshore region, covering depths of 200-3500m.

131

Others (Utility/Industrial/Trading)

132

Conoil Plc

Key Information

Company Category Oil Products Marketing

Origin Country Nigeria


No. of employees -


Address Bull Plaza 38/39, Marina PMB 2052, Logas,

Nigeria

Tel:+234-1-266-5880

Web address www.conoilplc.com

Operations


Block 4 in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) is located 200 km off the coastline of Nigeria and Sao Tome & Principe. Block 4 covers an area of approximately 211,700 acres. An exploration well on Kina prospect was spudded in August 2009. Analysis of drilling data is ongoing.

OPL 257 License (372 sqkm) is located 150km offshore Nigeria, with water depths ranging from 1,600 to 1,800 meters. First exploration ends in 2011 and comprises the acquisition and processing of 400 sq km of 3D-Seismic and the drilling of two exploration wells.


Agge-3B T1 well is located In OML 136, offshore Western Nigeria. A Total and Conoil JV discovered several gas bearing reservoirs totaling a gross thickness in excess of 150m. Studies are ongoing to assess further development options for the Agge-3BT1 well, together with other discoveries on the block.

Producing Assets


BD Focus

Conoil is Nigeria’s foremost marketer of refined petroleum products. Upstream is a minor part of its business portfolio.

Transaction History

Year Transaction Asset Summary 2008 Total to acquire 40% interest in

deep offshore Nigeria license from Conoil.

OPL 257 license covering an area of 372 sq. km, OPL 257 is located some 150 km offshore Nigeria, in water depths ranging from 1,600 to 1,800m.

2007 Total acquires 40% interest in Nigeria offshore block from Conoil

Oil Mining Lease (OML) 136, offshore Nigeria, covering an area of 1,295 sq km, OML 136 lies around 60 kilometers offshore in water depths of 80 to 300m.

2007 Conoil awarded two blocks in Nigeria for $215m

Conoil has won two blocks, OPLs 290 and 2007 with signature bonus of $105 million and $110 million respectively for the two blocks. The company paid the mandatory 50 percent of the fees for the blocks.

143

Short Profiles

Acarus Investments, Namibia

Acarus Investments (Proprietary) Ltd is a private company based in Namibia. The company holds 20% interest in Blocks 2914A, 2814B and 2813A, offshore Namibia.

Aker ASA, Norway www.akerasa.com

Aker ASA was awarded an 85% interest in South Deepwater Tano Block, offshore Ghana in 2008 along with Chemu Power Ltd. However, the Government of Ghana invalidated the company’s exploration and development license in 2009.

Al Thani Corporation, United Arab Emirates www.thanigroup.com

Al Thani Investments is a privately held oil & gas exploration company based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. In 2006, the company was awarded Block CI-105 in Cote d’Ivoire. It farmed out 22% of its interest in the block to Tullow Oil in 2007.

Arcadia Petroleum Limited, United Kingdom www.arcpet.co.uk

Arcadia Petroleum is a London-based oil and oil products trading company. In 2007, it acquired an 85% interest in Blocks 1910A, 1911 and 2011A, offshore Namibia from Tower Resources.

Bayelsa Oil Corporation, Nigeria

Bayelsa Oil Corporation is based in Lagos and operates a marginal field in Nigeria.

BHP Billiton, Australia www.bhpbilliton.com

BHP Billiton is the world’s largest diversified natural resources company. In West Africa, the company holds a 75% interest in Blocks 2813A and 2814B (Northern Blocks) and Block 2914A and adjacent acreage (Southern Blocks), offshore Namibia.

Brittania-U Nigeria Limited, Nigeria www.brittania-u.com

Brittania-U Nigeria Limited is a privately held company based in Nigeria. The company has upstream operations in Ajapa Marginal Field in Nigeria and is also engaged in petroleum products and marketing.

Buried Hill Energy Limited, Cyprus www.buriedhill.com

Buried Hill Energy Limited is a small Canadian firm, which is registered in Cyprus and sponsored by former Canadian prime minister Jean Chretien. It has project locations in Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Canada, Gambia and Turkemenistan. In 2006, the company signed a production sharing contract for two blocks A1 Alhamdulilah and A4 in Gambia. It farmed out 60% of its interest in the blocks to African Petroleum in January 2010.

Challenger Minerals Inc, United States www.challengerminerals.com

Challenger Minerals Inc is a wholly owned subsidiary of Transocean Inc. The company holds upstream assets in the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea, West Africa, SE Asia. In 2010, it was awarded 100% interest in Offshore Accra Contract Area in Ghana.

Centrica Plc, United Kingdom www.centrica.com

Centrica plc is primarily a utility company, but has growing upstream interests, especially in North Sea. In West Africa it holds 60% interest in shallow offshore Block OPL 276 and onshore Block 283 in Nigeria.

Dana Gas, United Arab Emirates www.danagas.ae

Dana Gas is a regional private-sector natural gas company based in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Its operations span throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. It holds a 10% interest in Nigeria-Pincipe-SaoTome JDZ Block 4.

Del – Sigma Petroleum, Nigeria www.sigmanigeria.com

Del – Sigma Petroleum is a subsidiary of Sigma Technical Agencies and is based in Lagos and operates the Ke marginal field in Nigeria.

Delek Energy Systems, Israel www.delek-group.com

Delek Energy Systems is an exploration and production arm of the Delek Group and is based in Israel. Delek Energy systems holds oil & gas exploration and production rights mainly in Israel, the US, Vietnam and Russia. It held a 15% interest in the Esperanca Blocks 4A and 5A and Sinapa Block 2 leases, offshore Guinea Bissau, which it divested to First Australian Resources in 2009.

148

Deals in Play

Deal in play Country Summary ExxonMobil to exit Block 31

Angola

Block 31 covers an area of 5,349 sq km and lies in water depths of between 1,500 and 2,500 metres. A total of 19 discoveries have been made in Block 31 with a total resource of 2 billion oil-equivalent barrels. The common development of the first four discoveries in the northern part of the block - Plutao, Saturno, Venus and Marte (PSVM) was approved by the concessionaire in July 2008. First oil is expected in Q2-2012 with plateau production of about 150,000 BO/d. PSVM will comprise a converted hull FPSO with 1,600,000 barrels of storage capacity; 48 production, gas and water injection plus infill wells; 15 manifolds and associated subsea equipment; 170 kms of flowlines and 95 kms of control umbilicals. Work is also ongoing to pursue the development of SE-PAJD (Hub 2), comprising the Palas, Astraea, Juno and Dione discoveries. Expected production from the Hub 2 is 150,000 BO/d by 2012.

INA-Naftaplin to exit Angola

Angola INA-Naftaplin, a subsidiary of MOL Hungary, is planning to exit Angola. INA has one exploration and three production concessions in Angola. As of May 2010, Proved + Probable reserves - 10.6 MMBOE and Total production - 3,860 BOE/d. Block overview

-- Block 3/05(4% interest) contains six producing oil fields- Palanca, Pacassa, Bufalo, Impala, Impala SE and Pambi-3/05. During October 2010, Sonangol (Operator) completed drilling operations and had put two wells (Pac-410 & Pac-412) in production;

--Block 3/85(5% interest) contains two producing oil fields, Cobo and Pambi-3/85; Cobo license got expired recently and the license for Pambi-3/85 expires in early 2011;

-- Block 3/91(5% interest) block contains one producing oil field, the Oombo satellite; The contract for this block expires at the end of 2012.

Maersk Oil and Svenska to farm-out interest in two blocks offshore Angola

Angola Maersk Oil Angola AS and Svenska Petroleum Angola AB offer an opportunity to participate in an imminent exploration drilling programme to be carried out in Blocks 8 and 23, offshore Angola. Farm-out process is currently being prepared by FirstEnergy Capital LLP. The blocks are located in Kwanza Basin and cover a combined area of approximately 9,700 sq km. Current participating interests in the blocks are Maersk Oil (50%, Operator), Svenska (30%) and Sonangol (20%). Water depth in Block 8 is up to 500m and in Block 23 up to 1,500m.

VAALCO Energy seeks partner for offshore Angola block

Angola VAALCO Energy Inc announced that it has begun working with the government of Angola to obtain both a replacement partner to Block 5, offshore Angola and a time extension for the drilling of the commitment wells for the block, in early 2010. If the company is successful in obtaining the extension and a replacement partner, VAALCO expects to commence drilling two exploration wells in the first half of 2011. The company has acquired approximately 1,700 sq km of seismic data over a portion of block and has identified drilling objectives. Current participants in the block are: VAALCO (40% operator); InterOil (40%) and Sonangol (20%). Subsequently, in Oct-2010, Sonangol and the Ministry of Petroleum approved a one-year extension for the drilling of the two commitment wells. The company estimates the drilling of the two Block 5 exploration wells will take place in the second half of 2011.

Bowleven to sell 20% interest in exploration permit onshore Cameroon

Cameroon Bowleven plc is offering interested parties the opportunity to join them at an early stage in their Bomono Permit (2,328 sq km comprising Blocks OLHP1 & 2) situated in the Douala Basin, onshore Cameroon. Bowleven owns 100% interest and operates the permit through its wholly owned subsidiary EurOil Limited. Envoi has been retained by Bowleven to assist the company in this process. Bowleven is offering up to a 20% working interest in the acreage to a company or companies willing to commit to funding of at least 100% of the cost of the acquisition of the 500 km program of new 2D seismic to be acquired commencing February 2010

bd toolkit west africa - march 2011 (sample)

Business