ANADARKO DISCOVERS MORE GAS

The Texas-based Anadarko Petroleum Corporation on Wednesday announced that it has found natural gas in “an excellent-quality reservoir” at the Camarao well in Offshore Area 1 of the Rovuma Basin.The company has therefore increased its estimated reserves in Offshore Area 1 to at least 10 trillion cubic feet of gas. In August the company announced that it had estimated reserves of 6 trillion cubic feet of gas.According to Anadarko’s vice-president, Bob Daniels, “our successful drilling programme in offshore Mozambique continues to expand the already world-class resource potential of this frontier basin”.He added that “we are optimistic that our current resource estimates will increase, as we still have significant exploration and appraisal work ahead of us”.Daniels pointed out that “we are mobilising a second deepwater drillship to the Rovuma Basin to accelerate the campaign, which includes an extensive reservoir testing program and up to seven exploration/appraisal wells over the next 12 months'.In August Anadarko awarded a contract to KBR to design a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant for Mozambique, which will be used to assess whether a LNG facility would be viable.John Peffer, the Managing Director of Anadarko’s Mozambican operations, told AIM in June that he regards LNG as the only viable option. Only a LNG facility can provide the economies of scale that would make it economical to exploit gas fields that are under 1,500 metres of water and 40 kilometres out to sea.By the end of 2013, Anadarko investment in the Rovuma Basin will have reached three billion US dollars. If it goes ahead with the LNG plant, total investment could reach 18 billion dollars by 2018, the earliest feasible date for starting production.Anadarko is the operator of Offshore Area 1 and holds a 36.5 per cent share of the fields. Its co-owners are Mitsui of Japan (20 per cent), BPRL Ventures and Videocon (both of India, with 10 per cent each) and Cove Energy of Britain (8.5 per cent). The Mozambican government is represented by Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos which holds a 15 per cent interest in the fields.