Equatorial Guinea Eyes Big Inward Spend

The west African country Equatorial Guinea is hoping for $1.2bn in investments but just $273mn for its hydrocarbon sector in 2020, the African Energy Council said December 16, 

The country is actively pursuing international investors in an effort to increase exploration activity and boost its oil and gas sector, as one project that could by now be exporting LNG, Fortuna, failed to get off the ground; and the government believes that Marathon, the operator of the LNG export terminal, is not investing enough in backfilling the reserves supplying it.

But the contingent forecast of $273mn, which follows technical negotiations with oil and gas companies, is targeted at oil projects: specifically, drilling two wells and the continuous development of six existing wells.

“We expect 2020 to be the biggest year of investment in Equatorial Guinea’s hydrocarbons industry in years. This is a strong sign of our industry’s enduring attractiveness and will enable us to continue increasing oil and gas production, support local companies and create jobs,” said mining and hydrocarbons minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima. There was no reference to the deal announced last month with Vitol. which has since announced an offtake deal with Nigerian LNG.

In 2019, Noble Energy, Trident Energy and Kosmos Energy, all made offshore discoveries and will enter 2020 doing further appraisals. Those offshore campaigns are expected to yield positive results in Equatorial Guinea’s efforts to reverse oil production declines.

Noble Energy made a new discovery in Block 1 offshore Equatorial Guinea in August and Trident and Kosmos Energy made a joint oil discovery at the S-5 well in November.