By Toyin Akinosho
Two weeks to the end of 1st Half 2018 and the much advertised Final Investment Decisions (FIDs) have failed to materialise for four big African oilfield projects.
The $20Billion Ugandan Albert Basin project, (200,0000BOPD at peak), which was the most certain of the four to take FID, still has a number of conditions precedent to reach the financing close. Yet this was the project that was reported as likely to get the nod in the last quarter of 2017.
The sanction may happen in 2018, but we now know that project commissioning date will slip beyond 2020. CNOOC, the Chinese behemoth with 44% stake in the upstream development, said last week that start-up was unlikely before 2021. This project has been on the drawing board for nine years.
Two greenfield deepwater oil projects offshore Nigeria, Bonga South West Aparo (BSWAP) and Zabazaba, collectively billed for over $25Billion, look nowhere close to getting sanctioned anytime in the year.
It is now certain that an FID in 2018 cannot not work for the SNE field, offshore Senegal, located in 1,100metre Water Depth in the Rufisque, Sangomar and Sangomar Deep Blocks.
