South
African energy and chemicals group Sasol has completed drilling two gas wells
in southern Mozambique and has since turned its attention to the development of
two commercial oil reservoirs, located in close proximity to its producing gas
fields in Temane and Pande.Under the terms of the current phase of a production
sharing agreement (PSA) field development plan approved in January, Sasol will
develop a total of 13 wells – five gas wells, seven oil wells and a water well.
The drilling campaign started in May 2016 and will continue until the first
quarter of 2018.
Sasol
Exploration and Production International senior VP John Sichinga tells
Engineering News Online that the two gas wells were drilled first to align with
government plans for using the feedstock in a 400 MW Mozambique gas-to-power
plant. The PSA licence specifically earmarks the gas for domestic “downstream
monetisation” in the form of this gas-to-power project.“Sasol
wanted gas-reserve certification to be off the Mozambique gas-to-power
project’s critical path,” Sichinga explains, adding that the gas from the two
wells is sufficient to enable the gas-reserve certification required by
power-station developers to advance the project to bankability.Sasol is already
producing from existing wells in the area and processing gas at a four-train
central processing facility (CPF) in Temane, from where it is exported to
markets in South Africa and Mozambique. Under the PSA it has committed to
adding a fifth production train at the CPF to process feedstock reserved for
the gas-fired power plant, from the initial phase of the PSA development.The
current field development focus is shifting to oil, however, with drilling of
the first oil rim well having started in early October. “The rig has moved east
to Inhassoro and Sasol is in the process of completing the first well,”
Sichinga reports.From
there, the campaign will move to the six other oil well sites over time to
confirm sufficient oil feedstock for a liquid processing facility (LPF),
earmarked for development alongside the existing CPF.The LPF is being designed
to produce 15 000 bbl/d of light oil, as well as 20 000 t/y of liquided
petroleum gas (LPG). “We are working with the Mozambican authorities on options
to either export the oil and LPG, or to sell the output in-country.”The
engineering design for the LPF, which is being conducted by Amec Foster
Wheeler, is advancing and construction work is expected to begin by mid-2017.Sasol
has approved $1.4-billion for the oil and gas campaign, as well as the
expansion of the CPF and the development of the LPF.
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