Article part 324 Jan 2023 20:01
Afentra is entering the Sonangol-operated Blocks 3/05 and 3/05a as a partner."They were looking for a partner to bring experience from other areas and bring a mature field operator to the table in an active way," McDade said. "We don't want to be a passive partner."Block 3/05:As an active partner in Block 3/05, one of the main expectations is that Afentra will help Sonangol "squeeze the asset," which is currently producing about 19,000 bbl/d from infrastructure covering eight fields. The block's fields, discovered between 1981 and 1992, are Palanca, Pacassa, Buffalo, Cobo, Pambi, Oombo, Impala and Impala SE.There's about 3 Bbbl of light sweet oil initially in place (OIIP) in the shallow water block. Breakeven here would be about $35/bbl, and every 1% increase in recovery from the OIIP of 3 Bbbl translates to 30 MMbbl of additional production, according to Afentra."It's a mature asset with a long life ahead of it," McDade said. "There's lots of opportunities for workovers, the usual things you do for a mature asset."Afentra said it has a wish list of ways to improve production and reduce emissions here.Sonangol operates the asset with 30% after selling 20% to Afentra. Afentra also bought 4% interest from minority partner INA, making Afentra the second largest interest holder in the block with 24%. Sonangol took over operatorship of the block when Total exited the asset in a phased handover from 2005 to 2013."They have been doing a good job of maintaining the asset, but they haven't been squeezing the asset," he said.While there are 100 wells in the block, "only half of those wells are active at the moment," McDade said. "There's lots of opportunity to go in and redevelop those assets."The initial aim is to boost current production of 19,000 bbl/d to over 20,000 bbl/d, he said, but "I think we can increase it to 30,000 barrels a day."First off the bat will be resuming water injection to increase production, he said, since there "hasn't been a lot of water injection going on."Some of the inactive wells may resume production with the water injection due to increasing reservoir pressure, McDade said.There are also plans to re-enter some of the inactive wells with a light workover rig, as well as plans to test how wells perform with electrical submersible pumps."We'll move over to that if it works," he said.No infill drilling has been carried out in about 15 years, he said, so identifying potential locations for those wells is also on the to-do list. Block 3/05a:Block 3/05A is adjacent to Block 3/05, and Afentra acquired 5.3% interest in the block from INA. The shallow water block operated by Sonangol has three discoveries. Block 3/05a's three fields were discovered in 1982, 1986 and 1990, but initial production didn't follow until 2015. The fields are Punja, Caco and Gazela, which hold about 300 MMbbl in place.