Key figures in the exploration industry are gathered in Cape Town, South Africa for parallel conferences highlighting new opportunities in this vast and prolific region. At Africa Oil Week and AAPG ICE, the region’s raft of ongoing licensing activity is being hotly discussed, explained and negotiated.

MultiClient data is the dominant commercial model for access to exploration seismic in Africa and the Middle East, from understanding prospectivity in a regional context, to researching reservoirs at a field scale. Offshore opportunities exist from Egypt to Namibia.

Five countries on the list have ongoing licensing activities and more are expected. Source PGS

Côte d'Ivoire

There has been a lot of activity in Cote d’Ivoire since the launch of the licensing round in 2017, and some significant additions to the PGS data library. In 2018, we acquired 8 000 sq. km of GeoStreamer data in the deepwater and shallow shelf areas, providing data to meet exploration requirements for the round.

New surveys cover blocks CI-101, CI-205, and CI-706. The CDI Blk 706 survey combines broadband acquisition and reprocessing using modern data rejuvenation workflows to offer multi-azimuth illumination over this open block. A new Côte d’Ivoire MegaSurvey will enable the evaluation of the Western Ivorian basin in a regional 3D context, providing an excellent overview of all play types.

Ghana

Ghana announced its first open license round, focusing on six blocks in the highly prospective Tano Basin. Details will be presented at Africa Oil Week. This hotly anticipated round will offer three blocks for competitive bidding, two blocks for direct award negotiations and one block for allocation to GNPC.

The application process, time frame, individual block information, data available (2D and 3D seismic), existing wells, and work program requirements, along with bid documents, and evaluation criteria will be presented at a special event at Africa Oil Week hosted by a delegation from the Ministry of Energy and the License Round Committee. There will also be a special presentation at PETEX in London in late-November.

Benin

No round has yet been announced for Benin, though this is an area with plenty of potential. PGS has created a geoscience product highlighting plays and prospects on open acreage or farm-in opportunities by integrating 2D and 3D MegaSurvey data, conventional 3D seismic, and data for 34 wells.

The Benin advanced interpretation package combines data with geoscience to reveal untested prospectivity together with the results of drilled wells. It is based upon 4312 sq. km of 3D seismic, 7500 km of 2D seismic, and pre-stack data for selected 3D volumes, all from the PGS data library, along with data and reports from 37 exploration wells.

Results from the advanced interpretation highlight a number of overlooked plays and identify numerous new de-risked, ready-to-drill prospects on open acreage or farm-in opportunities.

Nigeria

The latest PGS reprocessing project will deliver the first MultiClient 3D prestack depth migration dataset for offshore Nigeria, with deliverables ready Q2 2019. This provides the missing link that enables integrated exploration of the north and western Gulf of Guinea, by joining the West Africa Transform Margin to the Niger Delta Basins.

Mapping the meeting point between the Benin Embayment and the Benue Trough, this 3D dataset covers an area over blocks OPL314, OPL315, OPL321 and OPL323. The original surveys were acquired in 2004 and processed in the time domain. Modern broadband processing techniques will revitalize the data and reveal the details of this structurally challenging environment.

Republic of Congo

The Republic of Congo License Round has been offered in two phases. The first concluded with the announcement of awards for the deepwater blocks. The second phase includes shallow-water blocks on the shelf, and remaining open acreage in deeper water.

A new broadband depth-imaged MegaSurveyPlus, from PGS and SNPC, supports bids and work commitments. It has been constructed from nine datasets that have been reprocessed from field data, using the latest broadband processing techniques. All surveys have been matched and merged prior to migration, providing a seamless depth-migrated volume.

The reprocessed dataset will be available as final PSDM and RTM volumes. Phase 1 is ready now and Phase 2 will be available in Q1 2019. Preferential rates will apply for pre-commitment.

Angola - Namibe Basin

This globally significant frontier hydrocarbon region offshore southern Angola was recently mapped with a 12 000 sq. km 3D GeoStreamer survey, making it possible to unravel and de-risk the pre- and post-salt prospectivity in this undrilled basin. 

A comprehensive basin modeling study has been conducted in collaboration with IGI Ltd. PGS geoscientists studied the area to understand and mitigate petroleum system risks, including structure size, CO2 presence, hydrocarbon charge, and reservoir facies. The results predict the burial and maturation history of the pre- and post-salt source rocks and demonstrate hydrocarbon migration to traps. The full basin modeling study and database are now available.

Offshore Egypt

Located close to one of the most prolific petroleum provinces of Africa, the Egypt West Mediterranean offshore sector clearly has potential. The area is bounded to the south by the mature onshore Western Desert basins and to the east by the prolific Nile Delta cone. This frontier area covers approximately 80 000 sq. km and the PGS data library is an excellent place to start an evaluation of its hydrocarbon potential.

A new regional acquisition of 22 000 km long offset 2D data provides an important link between mature East Mediterranean acreage and the West Mediterranean frontier. Final products will be available in January 2019.  The total seismic coverage in the area amounts to 6 000 sq. km of 3D and 37 500 km of 2D. Around 8 000 km of the 2D data provides well and field tie lines that link the prolific Nile Delta to the frontier area further west. A comprehensive interpretation has also been carried out, based on a basin modeling study.

Egypt West Mediterranean exploration opportunities will also be in the spotlight at PETEX in London, in November.

Lebanon

Turning the corner in the Mediterranean takes us into the Middle East, where the Lebanon Petroleum Agency (LPA) is preparing for a second licensing round. This is scheduled for official launch by the end of 2018 and will extend over twelve months. Following the success of the first license round in 2017, Lebanon again presents a tremendous opportunity with frontier acreage already covered by modern 2D and 3D seismic data. The acreage comes with the reassurance of proven hydrocarbon plays and recent discoveries in the vicinity.

PGS has supported exploration efforts offshore Lebanon since 2006 with multiple 2D and 3D surveys and is an official data provider for the 2nd Lebanon Offshore Licensing Round. These high-quality seismic datasets can be invaluable to those seeking to unlock the petroleum system and evaluate potential prospects in the Levantine Basin. Following exposure in Cape Town, there will be a special presentation of Lebanon opportunities at PETEX in London in late-November.

KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: PGS