Equatorial Guinea: Atlas Petroleum remains partner in Block P
Equatorial Guinea: Atlas Petroleum remains partner in Block P
– By Alison_Godswill

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Equatorial Guinea: Atlas Petroleum remains partner in Block P

By Eyo Nsima

Atlas Petroleum, as a legacy investor in Equatorial Guinea, said it remains a partner in Block P, describing ‘claims to the contrary by Vaalco or any company as false, outrageous and misleading.

The American oil producer VAALCO Energy (NYSE: EGY) announced the approval of the Plan of Development for Discovery on Block P in Equatorial Guinea, stating that the Government of Equatorial Guinea has already approved the Venus – Block P Plan of Development (POD), adding that VAALCO has an 80 percent participation interest in the project.

It had maintained that upon the execution of final documents, VAALCO would proceed directly to project execution which targets the first oil in 2026 and adds 23.1 million barrels of oil of 2P CPR gross reserves, and 18.5 MMBO of 2P CPR Working Interest (WI) reserves (16.2 MMBO net 2P reserves).
VAALCO had said that it has a 45.9 percent WI in Block P Offshore Equatorial Guinea after the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons approved the new amendment to the PSC, adding that it would hold an 80 percent WI in the Venus development in Block P, and Guinea Ecuatorial de Petroleós GEPetrol has a 20 percent carried working interest; as the result of EGY’s joint venture owner, Atlas Petroleum International, opting not to participate in the POD.

Specifically, its Chief Executive officer, CEO, George Maxwell, had said: “Once the development plan is approved, we will hold an 80% working interest as a result of our joint venture owner opting not to participate. We look forward to receiving the approval soon so that we can continue to move forward with our discovery at Block P, which is expected to add meaningful 2P reserves upon approval of the POD and provide another strong operational asset to the portfolio. As we work through the approval process, we’ll provide more details about potential timing, capital cost, reserves, and production estimates. We are committed to profitably exploiting the resource potential of all our assets and are pleased with our progress at Equatorial Guinea.”

However, in a statement obtained by The Daily, www.thedaily-ng.com, Atlas Petroleum, which noted the press statement by Vaalco Energy, Inc. on the Block P Venus discovery Plan of Development (POD), stated: “Atlas Petroleum, as a legacy investor in Equatorial Guinea, has been a partner in Block P prior to Vaalco’s entrance to the block, and remains an investor with an active participating interest in Block P. Any claims to the contrary by Vaalco or any company are false, outrageous, and misleading.
“Atlas has not relinquished any part of its interest. Atlas does not intend to walk away from Block P. Any assertion by a company that has decided to drill and develop an oil field in the media is wrong. We know work is done on platforms not with the media and we urge our partners to refrain from this. We are in constant communication with the government and have never received a letter from the government or GEPetrol that our PSC and interest have been canceled.”

According to a document obtained by The Daily, www.thedaily-ng.com, from its website, the company further maintained that “Block P consists of the Venus Production and Development Area and the Block P Exploration area. A plan of development to begin a drilling campaign on the Venus PDA is in progress.”

It added: “Block P covers an area of 1,253 square kilometers in the Rio Muni basin, in close proximity to Equatorial Guinea’s mainland. The Venus discovery was made in 2005 by Devon Energy. The PDA also contains a number of exploration prospects, chiefly the SW Grande Prospect and the Marte Prospect, each of which has the potential to substantially add to the area’s reserves. GEPetrol purchased Devon’s Equatoguinean assets in 2008 and became the operator of Block P. In November 2012, block partner Petronas Carigali sold its 31 percent share in Block P to Vaalco Energy. Vaalco is in the process of being approved as a technical operator and preparing a plan of development for the Venus PDA. The POD will have a minimum of two-well exploration campaigns. Drilling targets will be the SW Grande and Marte prospects.”

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