New Oil Discoveries - Old Problems?
Exxon Mobil Corp. struck oil at Pinktail in the Stabroek Block offshore the nation of Guyana, adding another discovery to the U.S. oil major’s exploration tally in the region. The Pinktail well, located southeast of the Liza Phase 1 project and Yellowtail-1, marks the 20th significant discovery on the 6.6 millionacre Stabroek Block, which is operated by Exxon Mobil as part of a consortium that includes New York-based Hess Corp. and China’s CNOOC Ltd. Despite not specifying the size of reserves in its latest discovery, Exxon Mobil said Pinktail will add to previous recoverable resource estimate of approximately 9 billion oil equivalent barrels.
Just the week before the Exxon Mobil Corp. find, Ivory Coast reported a “major” offshore oil find, discovered by Italian firm Eni. Energy minister Thomas Camara said the finding was estimated between 1.5 and 2 billion barrels of oil and around 1.8-2.4 trillion cubic feet (51 million cubic metres) of gas. Aside from Total and Eni, Britain's Tullow Oil has also announced significant discoveries of Ivorian offshore oil reserves in recent years.
Here in Namibia, Canadian oil and gas company Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. (“ReconAfrica”) has begun exploratory drilling in the Kavango Basin of northeast Namibia and is expected to similarly do so into northwest Botswana. It is also said the exploration and production activities will open the door to thousands of well-paying jobs for Namibians, not to mention the opportunities for building local capacity and technology sharing that come with the presence of international oil companies.
Enter climate change and net zero ambitions!
Under climate change ambitions and goals, lie the path to sustainability. According to S&P Global, Net zero and carbon neutral commitments are on the rise in 2021, as companies, financial institutions and countries assert their alignment to global climate goals. Especially in the quest for Net Zero, some companies have sought carbon offsets. A carbon offset broadly refers to a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions – or an increase in carbon storage (e.g., through land restoration or the planting of trees) – that is used to compensate for emissions that occur elsewhere. This although not an embryonic industry, it is still evolving, having various actors and being in need of a universal framework.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a 2021 study that points out “that solar, our cheapest and fastest-growing source of clean energy, could produce enough electricity to power all of the homes in the U.S. by 2035 and employ as many as 1.5 million people in the process” which clearly points towards the ability for a sustainable future at residential level as a minimum.
However, these ambitions in most cases seem to be thwarted by a lack of enough commercially available options and the ability for the average person to make the switch. With new discoveries and the need to keep economic activities growing, there is a loss of rationality among the two sides to focus on hybrid solutions which sadly are already available but thwarted by either regulation or just commonsense economic support.
There is much more to be examined and so the conversation continues. briefing@rdjpublishing.africa
READINGS
https://www.hartenergy.com/ https://www.france24.com/en/afr ica/20210902-ivory-coast-reportsmajor-offshore-oil-discovery https://www.energy.gov/articles/ doe-releases-solar-futures-studyproviding-blueprint-zero-carbongrid https://www.spglobal.com/ https://www.offsetguide.org/