Tullow Oil Gabon, a subsidiary of the UK-based oil and gas company Tullow Oil, has secured government approval in Gabon to extend its licenses until 2046. This solidifies the Tchatamba facilities as a key hub for Tullow’s operations.
The license extensions, as per Tullow, enhance the company’s resource base by incorporating approximately 5 million barrels of net 2P reserves. This achievement is projected to achieve a full 100 percent 2P reserve replacement in Gabon for the current year.
This is in line with the firm’s strategy to focus on its high-return production assets in Africa and unlock value through the optimization of its non-operated portfolio. Tullow is adamant that these extensions reflect the future potential of the reserves and resources across the Gabonese assets and the longevity of the Tchatamba facilities as a core hub.
In a bid to place the Tchatamba facilities in this position while simplifying its equity ownership across key fields in Gabon, Tullow agreed to a cashless asset swap in April 2023 with Perenco, which involves an exchange of participating interests held by both companies in certain licenses in Gabon. The completion of the transfer is expected by the end of 2023.
This deal entails assigning and transferring Tullow Gabon’s existing percentage participating interests in the Limande, Turnix, Moba, and Oba assets and part of its existing percentage of the Simba assets to Perenco. In turn, Tullow will get the assignment and transfer of Perenco’s part of the existing percentage participating interests in each of the Kowe (Tchatamba) and DE8 assets, resulting in post-completion holdings of 40 percent for Tullow Gabon.
The Tchatamba complex consists of three fields: Tchatamba Marin, Tchatamba South, and Tchatamba West, which are located approximately 30 km offshore Gabon within water depths of around 50 m and are fully contained within the Kowe license. The fields are subdivided into four main producing reservoirs: Anguille, Azile, Cap Lopez, and Madiela.
The Tchatamba Complex started production from Tchatamba Marin in 1998, followed by South in 1999, and West in 2000. Currently, there are a total of 19 development wells in the fields.
The development of the fields consists of two mobile offshore production units (MOPU) at Marin, a processing platform at South, which is tied into Marin, and a wellhead platform at West, tied back to Marin. The oil is exported via a pipeline to shore and onto the FSO Fernan Vaz.
