Gabon is revamping its oil and gas sector with a focus on achieving a production level exceeding 220,000 barrels per day (bpd). Operators are initiating fresh drilling and appraisal endeavours, implementing cutting-edge enhanced oil recovery methods, and committing investments towards establishing a domestic gas infrastructure network.
During the two-day Invest in African Energy 2024 forum in Paris, which connects global investors with key energy developments in Africa, investors will delve into Gabon’s evolution into one of the most vibrant markets for near-field and deepwater exploration on the continent.
As a mature oil producer, Gabon has directed its efforts towards optimising its mature and marginal assets, with short-cycle developments able to bring new discoveries online at a lower cost and in reduced time by utilising existing infrastructure.
In November 2023, BW Energy announced a commercial oil discovery at its Hibiscus South satellite prospect offshore Gabon, estimated to hold 16 million barrels of oil in place, which it plans to finish as a production well in early 2024. The E&P company increased production from its Dussafu Marin Permit after completing four production wells at the close of last year, with each well adding 6,000–6,500 bpd. The Hibiscus and Ruche Development is expected to produce 40,000 bpd by mid-2024.
In early February, Anglo-French independent Perenco began appraisal drilling near its Hylia South West discovery to target additional reservoirs and establish estimated oil volumes in place, ranging between 20 and 100 million barrels.
The company began production in the field last October, producing around 6,000 bpd. Meanwhile, U.S. independent VAALCO Energy is prioritising near-field exploration at its Etame Marin Offshore Fields Development, where it is currently interpreting 3D seismic data with a view to a potential drilling campaign in 2024.
TotalEnergies is also focusing on nearby offshore exploration and investing in well intervention and related technologies after signing a new 25-year contract on its Baudroie-Mérou Marine G5-143 permit.
That said, redevelopment of mature fields has not come at the expense of frontier exploration in Gabon’s deep offshore. Chinese oil firm CNOOC launched wildcat drilling at the start of 2023 in Blocks BC-9 and BCD-10 and is considering the use of a floating LNG vessel should its Tigre-1 frontier probe find sufficient offshore oil and gas volumes. The Tigre prospect holds recoverable resource potential of up to 1.4 billion barrels and could double Gabon’s oil output if successfully put into production, as well as de-risk future deepwater exploration in the Gabon Coastal Basin.
A key focus of Gabon’s retooled plans is the exploration and monetization of natural gas, of which the country is estimated to hold between three and five trillion cubic feet. Under its Gas Master Plan, Gabon aims to stimulate upstream exploration, reduce gas flaring, improve domestic supplies of LPG, LNG, and CNG, increase gas-fired power generation, and establish associated downstream industries. Perenco is leading Gabon’s gas campaign through the construction of the $1-billion Cap Lopez LNG terminal, which will have a capacity of 700,000 metric tonnes per year when it comes online in 2026. This will complement the 15,000 metric tonnes of butane set to be produced from the company’s LPG plant in Batanga, which opened last December.
Perenco has additionally inked an MOU with Gabon Power Company for the construction of a gas-fired power plant in Mayumba. This facility will utilise associated gas from offshore fields to produce up to 50 MW of electricity, powering Gabon’s remote southern provinces. These initiatives, along with others, highlight the unexplored investment opportunities in Gabon’s gas exploration, transportation, storage, and processing capacities, which will be thoroughly discussed at the upcoming forum.
