Ophir Energy, a company working to bring on stream its gas reserves offshore Equatorial Guinea, has said the project remains on schedule.
In an operational update on Thursday, Ophir said the Fortuna FLNG “remains firmly on schedule” for a Final Investment Decision in 1H 2017, and that Ophir and its partner, OneLNG, are making good progress “against all key milestones.”
To remind, a joint venture company was established in November 2016 to develop the Fortuna FLNG project, in Ophir-operated Block R.
Ophir Holdings & Ventures LTD, a wholly owned subsidiary of Ophir Energy, and OneLNGSM, a joint venture between subsidiaries of Golar LNG Limited and Schlumberger, signed a binding shareholders’ agreement to establish a Joint Operating Company (JOC).
The Fortuna project will be developed utilizing Golar’s FLNG technology.
OneLNG and Ophir will have 66.2% and 33.8% ownership of the JOC respectively, with economic share consistent with the equity interest in the JOC.
The JOC will facilitate the financing, construction, development and operation of the integrated Fortuna project and, from FID, will own Ophir’s share of the Block R licence and the Gandria FLNG vessel.
The shareholders’ agreement and FID are subject to, amongst other things: agreement of final terms and execution of documentation for the project debt financing; approval by the shareholders of Ophir Energy plc; approval by the government of Equatorial Guinea.
According to an update in November 2016, first gas anticipated in the first half of 2020. Initial offtake is expected to be 2.2-2.5 mtpa for a duration of between 15 and 20 years which will monetize around 2.6 Tcf of the discovered resource.
The expected total capital expenditure for the integrated project is approximately $2 billion to reach first gas. Approximately $1.2 billion is expected to be debt financed, with full drawdown by the start of commercial operations.
To remind, the project’s FID had been initially expected in mid-2016 but was then postponed for the fourth quarter of 2016 only to be postponed again for the first half of 2017.
Offshore Energy Today Staff