Africa set to be biggest growth market over next five years

If you have ever met ABC Maritime chief offshore officer, George Horsington, you know that he is good humoured and smart as a tack. Mr Horsington demonstrated those fine qualities in his rapid-fire assessment of the West Africa offshore oil and gas market, which required him to cover 15 markets in a 15-minute presentation. Making his job even more difficult is that none of those markets are “homogenous in any way,” he said.

But one of the key takeaways from his presentation at the Annual Offshore Support Journal Conference, Awards and Exhibition, held in London is “Africa is going to be probably the single biggest growth market in the next five years.”

“There is limited shore support and limited shore technicians, while spares would have to be flown in”

While there are numerous opportunities in the market, there are also challenges. Unlike Aberdeen, Dubai or Singapore, Mr Horsington noted there is limited shore support and limited shore technicians, while spares would have to be flown in, and “customs and visas are unpredictable and time consuming.”

Still, the market is quite active. As of early February, there were about 30 drilling rigs, 40 FPSOs and 200 OSVs active in West Africa — "representing about 10% of the world’s OSV fleet,” he said. Angola and Nigeria are the region’s largest markets, “but they are by no means the only markets,” he said, noting BP’s Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG project in Mauritania and Senegal, and ongoing projects Namibia and South Africa.

Shell plc certainly believes in West African oil and gas resources. The oil major’s focus in Nigeria is now firmly on deepwater and integrated gas business in the African nation after completing the sale of its 100% equity in Shell Petroleum Development Company Nigeria (SPDC) to Renaissance Africa Energy Holdings (RAE). SPDC has been renamed Renaissance Africa Energy Co Ltd.

Parent RAE consists of a consortium of four Nigerian independent oil and gas companies: ND Western; Araedel Holdings; FIRST Exploration and Petroleum Development; and the Watersmith Group.

Compass Survey Limited has contracted US-based TDI Brooks to conduct a series of 2D ultra high-resolution (2DUHR) seismic site surveys and pipeline route assessments offshore Nigeria for the newly renamed Renaissance Africa Energy Co Ltd.

For the project, TDI-Brooks has deployed its survey vessel Proteus to help identify potential drilling hazards and risks along the proposed pipeline route.

Two other TDI-Brooks research vessels are operating in West Africa, one of which is the DP-2-class Nautilus supporting a deepwater geotechnical project off the coast of Namibia, and the other, Gyre, which is engaged in environmental and geotechnical projects in northwest Africa.

Following its divestment of SPDC, Shell will now focus on the US$5Bn Bonga North deepwater project through its Shell Nigeria Exploration & Production Co (SNEPCo) subsidiary. In 2024, the oil major took FID on Bonga North, which will involve a subsea tie-back to the existing Bonga floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel.

The Bonga North project involves drilling, completing, and starting up 16 wells (eight production and eight water injection wells), modifications to the existing Bonga Main FPSO and the installation of new subsea hardware tied back to the FPSO.

In Angola, Azule Energy has secured BOS Patriot under a three-year firm charter. The Ulstein PX 121 PSV will be relocated from the Mediterranean to West Africa by Britoil Offshore Services, where it had been working alongside its sister vessel, BOS Patience for Chevron in Egypt.