Total’s offshore project still on
DRILLING: 175KM OFF SOUTHERN COAST OF SOUTH AFRICA
Coronavirus forces plans to be put on hold, but Total is to start drilling new oil well in September.
Covid-19 outbreak forced French company to put plans on hold.
Aleopard is mooted as ways to secure South Africa’s energy needs. The leopard, or rather the Luiperd-1, is the next well that will be drilled 175km off the southern coast of South Africa by French oil company Total.
The company made the Brulpadda gas condensate discovery in Block 11B/12B of the Outeniqua Basin last year.
Total had planned to drill new wells in the area this year, but in May the oil major and Norwegian offshore drilling contractor Odfjell Drilling, whose rig the Deepsea Stavanger was contracted for the multi-well drilling programme, agreed to pause these plans for an indefinite period because of ongoing restrictions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The rig was initially expected to be deployed to South Africa in the first quarter and now Canadian oil company Africa Energy has announced that the rig is making its way from Norway to South Africa to begin drilling work on Luiperd-1 from September.
Energy mix
Although the exact reserves of Luiperd-1 are far from being determined, the discovery may increase the viability of SA’s ambitions to have a sustainable energy mix.
“Luiperd is the largest prospect in the Paddavissie Fairway and has been derisked by the nearby Brulpadda discovery and subsequent 3D seismic work,” said Garrett Soden, chief executive of Africa Energy.
The area in block 11B/12B is operated by a partnership between Total, which holds a 45% working interest, and Qatar Petroleum International Upstream
LLC and CNR International South Africa Limited, which have 25% and 20% respectively. Africa Energy holds 49% of the shares in Main Street, which has a 10% participating interest in the block.
Total plans to drill four other prospects in the area, including Luiperd-1. It has been reported the entire deposit could hold one billion barrels of oil equivalent.
South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan, which provides a blueprint for the country’s intended energy mix over the coming decade, shows a reduction in the amount of power that the country will produce using coal as the role played by less carbon-emitting technologies increases.
As more renewable energy is brought into the mix, the document notes that gas-to-power technologies will provide the “flexibility” to complement renewables. This will however not be in the near future; the plan indicates a requirement of 1 000 megawatts (MW) in 2023 and 2 000MW in 2027.
In addition to creating partnerships with neighbouring countries such as Mozambique to procure natural gas and enhance regional integration, the Brulpadda discovery is highlighted as an area of “enormous potential and opportunity”.
Not that much of a ‘game-changer’
Energy expert Steve Clark said while it’s positive that Total is proceeding with its exploration in the area and this could bode well for the oil and gas industry in South Africa, “we should not oversell it because this is not going to change SA”.
“It’s a nice find but it’s probably not the game-changer that Mozambique was,” he said.
Clark said it could be 10 years before there is any gas from the field.
Luiperd is the largest prospect in the Paddavissie Fairway