Ophir Energy is on track for a final investment decision on its Fortuna LNG project offshore Equatorial Guinea in mid-2016.
Key engineering contracts, including the projects subsea production systems, are expected to be awarded in the first half of the year.
The project will develop Ophir's assets in Block R, 100km off Bioko Island, containing some 3.4 Tcf estimated mean recoverable dry gas resources.
Outlinging the project, Africa's first newbuild, open seas FLNG project, the firm today said it would be a four phase development with total 17 wells, sitting in 1800m water depth using a leased FLNG vessel, with a second vessel expected to start up in 2025, based on 2022 FID.
The first phase, starting up in 2019, would comprise four wells, comprising gas wells with two redundancy wells.
Ophir Energy, based in London, already has an agreement with Golar LNG to be the midstream provider, based on a leased vessel, currently under construction in Keppel Shipyard, with Black & Veatch liquifaction and pre-treatment facilities and NOV turret and mooring, as well as a heads of terms (HoT) on gas sales. It is also well into upstream front end engineering and design with two competing consortia, pitching McDermott Marine Construction and GE Oil & Gas against Subsea 7 and Aker Solutions.
In January 2016, the firm announced an agreement with oilfield services giant Schlumberger for them to acquire a 40% economic interest in the field in return for reimbursing 50% of Ophir's back costs. The agreement is expected to be finalized in 2Q 2016.
Meanwhile, Ophir and African Petroleum have been officially awarded a new production sharing contract (PSC) on the CI-513 deepwater license offshore Ivory Coast, west Africa.
Ophir says the block, in 1000-3000m water depth, has multi-hundred million barrel play potential.
Ophir will be operator and hold 45% interest, with African Petroleum holding 45% and Petroci, the national oil company, holding the remaining 10%. Ophir has a one well commitment by Q1 2018.
Ophir Energy will make a contribution of US$16.9 million towards African Petroelum's back costs in relation to the block.
Jens Pace, CEO of African Petroleum, said: "We are pleased to have received the final ministerial signature on this new CI-513 PSC with Ophir Energy in Côte d'Ivoire and complete this important transaction. We look forward to working with our new partner Ophir Energy and Petroci to jointly explore the potential of this exciting block."
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