The following articles were published in an Oil & Gas Magazine from 1997 to
2002. I will be posting other articles leading to the signing of the Petroleum
Licence in separate mails.
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Gambia gets bit between teeth after reshuffle
30.01.1999
THE GAMBIAN government is in a hurry to see a raft of preliminary studies of
the tiny west African country's long-neglected offshore patch turn into solid
action with the drillbit, writes Barry Morgan.
A Cabinet reshuffle last weekend saw four ministers lose their portfolios,
including petroleum supremo Dominic Mendy. His replacement as Minister of
Trade and Industry, Musa Sillah, is a former central bank economist and pro-
business technocrat. Insiders believe he will be highly supportive of the
exploration drive. Key meetings are slated early next month in the capital
Banjul as Perth-based West Oil's technical co-operation agreement comes
up for renewal and two fellow Aussie explorers press to bring in partners to
prove up licensed acreage. Very encouraging preliminary results from West's
reprocessing work are said to point to a switch to a full petroleum production
licence to allow further exploration, according to sources. Satellite-based oil
seepage studies conducted by West's partner and geophysical consultant
Ikoda have now been evaluated. West retains rights of first refusal on the near-
shore acreage. Any exploration period under a full licence is likely to be
limited as so much work has already been completed under the technical
agreement, according to a ministry official. The first extension period will
likely involve a two-well commitment while the second extension period will
also have two wells, suggested the source. The only current licence in
Gambia was signed last year by a joint venture between Perth outfits
Hardman Resources and Balmain Resources. The initial optional period
expires in June The Aussies are busy scouting for partners to assist in the
commitment well pledged for the second period. Candidates will likely come
from Canada as Balmain's sister company Golden Gate Resources is listed
on the Vancouver exchange. Further offshore, Geco Prakla has the next few
months to devise a programme for non-exclusive 2D and perhaps 3D seismic
beyond water depths of 1000 metres under a promotion deal inked late last
year with the ministry. French intermediary SGAT has just introduced
Compagnie Generale Geophysique to Banjul, even proposing an agreement
to shoot non-exclusive surveys in the deep offshore. This cannot happen
unless Geco waives its option.
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Geco to promote Gambia's show
20.06.1998
SCHLUMBERGER'S seismic outfit Geco-Prakla looks set to sign a
memorandum of understanding with Gambia's Department of Trade, Industry
and Employment next week to reprocess and market the country's offshore
data and promote its acreage to international suitors, writes Barry Morgan
from Banjul.
Government sources say the deal may emerge in tandem with a separate
service agreement to shoot fresh seismic, thus opening the way for serious
exploration of this long-neglected west African play. Should plots currently
held under technical co-operation agreements fall vacant in the future, Geco-
Prakla would act as agent for the acreage. Talks on the draft are understood
to be well-advanced although the contract duration has not yet been
discussed. The work scope of the proposed seismic will depend on Geco-
Prakla gaining pre-commitments later this year from companies already in
the frame for Gambian acreage. Perth-based West Oil has rejigged the initial
area covered by its nine-month technical co-operation agreement since the
deal was signed in February, releasing both deep-water acreage and shallow
water plots closer to shore. West Oil must decide in the fourth quarter
whether to go for a petroleum production licence on part of the play, which
would be favourably received , and it is thought that Geco could negotiate a
speculative survey in this area. London's TM Worldwide subsidiary Planet Oil,
in a joint venture with Perth-based Balmain Resources, is apparently keen to
snap up most of the shallow water in depths between 40 metres and 60
metres, leaving sizeable tracts available on the northern border with Senegal
but only a slither of free acreage towards Casamance. Sources indicate that
a deal is expected within a fortnight. Planet may eventually extend its
putative plot to include scattered patches of acreage in deeper water
presently located in West's demarcated turf. Again, a pre-commitment to
Geco's proposed shoot may help smooth negotiations towards a technical
agreement that have been ongoing for many months.
-------------------------
Aussies set up exclusive bite at virgin west African play West Oil wins key to
Gambia
21.02.1998
AUSTRALIAN explorer West Oil has signed a technical co-operation
agreement with Gambia that gives it the opportunity of a clear run at a
substantial west African offshore play.
The Perth-based company will compile a data package and complete an
evaluation of Gambia's offshore prospectivity under the nine-month deal
agreed last week with the country's Department of Trade and Industry. In
return, West will get the option to choose its patch and could subsequently
gain the exclusive right to apply for an exploration licence over part of the
offshore area. It is understood the Gambian government would then be free to
use the technical study to promote the remaining areas to other suitors. The
co-operation pact was signed together with UK-based Fusion Investments,
which is linked with West Oil on a number of African ventures, and with fellow
west Australian geophysical consultancy Ikoda. The latter is contracted to
perform technical work in Gambia. Several structural and stratigraphic
prospects have already been identified by West and the company believes
specialised reprocessing and depth conversion studies will help firm up
existing leads and guide future data acquisition. Gambian Commissioner for
Petroleum Kabar Jawara says the country already has an established
petroleum code with model licences in place for both reconnaissance and
E&P activity. Profit tax on oil is pegged at 35% and the royalty rate, initially
set at 12.5%, is negotiable. Most conditions are negotiable and for now there
is certainly no upward revision of terms envisaged, he said. The country has
recently seen a lot of interest from both exploration and seismic companies ,
Jawara added. BP was the first to shoot seismic in the 1950s, following it up
with two onshore wells in the early 1960s. Chevron later set a deep-water
record in 1978 by drilling the country's only offshore well, Jammah-1, in 2254
feet. Some 7000 kilometres of seismic has been shot offshore, mostly by
Petro-Canada in the 1980s. A similar co-operation deal involving the same
companies was struck late last year with the international body set up in
Dakar to supervise the formerly disputed joint maritime zone between
neighbouring Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. West Oil's deal with the Dakar-
based Agence de Gestion et de Co-operation entre la Guinee-Bissau et le
Senegal (AGC) has still not been finalised, it is understood, largely due to
Bissau's reluctance to get drawn into the civil war north of the border. The
joint zone hosts the shallow Dome Flore field, reported to contain up to 900
million barrels of 10-degree API oil that is mostly biodegraded. Venezuela's
state outfit PDVSA remains interested in deploying heavy oil recovery
techniques to produce Dome Flore but talks have reportedly stalled on cost
analyses of the project. Industry observers suspect a prolific petroleum
system in the area and satellite indications of active offshore seepages to the
north have lately revived the search for mature oil-prone source rocks. West
Oil is keeping up in the race here. Company representatives are understood
to have been sounding out Senegal state oil outfit Petrosen about accessing
the offshore area between the joint zone and Gambia. This is possible
because Houston's Benton Oil & Gas is now engaged in negotiations with
Petrosen over selected offshore permits following its own option deal, inked
last year, covering tracts in water up to only 500 meters deep. Separatist
elements in the southern Senegalese province of Casamance have turned to
violent rebellion in recent weeks, issuing threats to foreign tourists and
businessmen. However, the primary oil interest is offshore. West Oil's next
bid, if successful, could win the Australians exclusive rights to a contiguous
sprawl of prospective property in one of the region's most lightly explored
areas. Western Geophysical has just completed a non-exclusive deep-water
seismic shoot off Senegal and may now be planning to extend the survey to
meet growing regional demand, sources say.
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