By Johnny Matanmmy, in Malabo
Hess Corporation’s $100 Million Sale of its stake in Ghana comes barely three months after its exit from Equatorial Guinea.
It is leaving valuable assets in both countries; the Ceiba field and the Okume complex in Equatorial Guinea’s Rio Muni Basin were snapped up by Kosmos Energy, who reported that Hess’ lacklustre investment in those assets was the lead cause of decreasing output in the last few years.
In Ghana’s Deepwater Tano Cape Three Points DWT/CTP, Hess had made seven discoveries out of eight exploratory wells and had tested the Pelican structure, with 3,900BOEPD. It sold its 50% in the asset, along with operatorship, to Norway’s Aker Energy.
The only African country in which Hess has interest now is Libya, where its operations are so uncertain it keeps reporting “excluding Libya”. We predict it would soon give it up.
Hess is one of the several Africa-heavy Western independents who have been mired in the red in the wake of the crude oil price crash of 2014. Its fourth quarter 2017 results declared a net loss of $2.677Billion, or $8.57 per common share, compared with a net loss of $4.892Billion, or $15.65 per common share, in the fourth quarter of 2016. The company has come far, but not nearly in the black.
Like so many American companies, including majors ExxonMobil and Chevron, Hess is growing its portfolio in the Shale rich basins onshore United States. They are the reasons why OPEC will find it difficult to rebalance the market. Hess has the added luck of having been part of ExxonMobil’s Guyana discovery.
