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Ishemunyoro Chingwere
Fustralia Stock Exchange (ASX)-listed miner, Invictus Energy Ltd, is expected to spend much less in the multi-billion dollar Muzarabani oil and gas project compared to what usually obtains in similar projects as the local deposits are onshore.
The Australian miner already has interests in Ghana, where they explored and are exploiting an asset that is dip in water (offshore), which further complicated their work and thus bloating some overheads as this requires more sophisticated an expensive technology.
In an interview with this publication after a series of meetings with Government officials and other key stakeholders, Invictus Energy non-executive director Dr Stuart Lake, said the Muzarabani oil and gas project presents an even higher prospect of return due to its location.
His company, he said, will not have to go through the hustle of exploring in water as is usually the case with many other deposits in many parts of Africa among them in Ghana where Invictus is operating as well as in Kenya where the investor ended up drilling 32 holes before commercial deposits could be declared.
“It’s a different type of play, so in Ghana we are drilling in dip water, whereas this (Muzarabani) is on land,” said Lake.
“I have drilled many wells on land with my teams in various companies. By drilling on land, it’s a lot cheaper, it’s a lot easier to access generally, particularly in the area we are looking at in the Cabora Bassa Basin.
“There are good roads in to the area, we don’t have to impact the environment in any form whatsoever,” he said.
The Muzarabani oil and gas prospect is estimated to hold up to 1, 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) or alternatively an estimated resource of 206 billion litres of oil.
The miner is now seeking to further authenticate these estimates by sinking an exploratory well on the fields at a cost of between US$15 million to US$20 million in the first quarter of 2020.
The prospect is also estimated to contain 8.2 Tcf plus 250 million barrels of conventional gas / condensate (gross mean unrisked) across five horizons while the Msasa Prospect identified under the same permit (SG 4571) is estimated to contain 1.05 Tcf plus 44 million barrels of conventional gas/condensate (gross mean unrisked) across three horizons.
But before going on the ground, Invictus is finalising their Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), which is largely expected to sail through.
Commenting on the EIA, Invictus managing director Scott Macmillan said; “The Environmental Impact Assessment study is an important undertaking to ensure that we adequately and identify and effectively mitigate any anticipated impacts associated with the exploration programme and the development of any discoveries made.
“The completion and approval of the EIA study will fulfil the environmental approvals required for future exploration drilling and development of any resources by the regulator — EMA.
“We will consult closely with the local community and stakeholders and develop an Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan which will ensure that the mitigation measures are adhered to during the project,” he said.
More opportunities
Meanwhile, Invictus Energy Limited managing director Scott Macmillan, sees the impending gas supply crunch in South Africa as an opportunity for the company which is “strategically placed to supply gas into the region to fill the supply gap.
The Industrial Gas Users Association of Southern Africa (IGUA-SA) warned on Wednesday that South Africa is in the midst of a gas supply crunch, which will worsen dramatically from 2025 onwards in line with depleting production from Sasol’s Pande and Temane gasfields, in southern Mozambique.
The association includes large industrial companies that collectively consume 50-million gigajoules of gas yearly, employ 46 000 people and have combined yearly revenues of R150-billion. It is forecasting a yearly shortfall of 98-million gigajoules from 2025 onwards, including Sasol gas demand.
Macmillan sees this as a win for the Muzarabani operations.
“If our exploration is successful and we make a discovery the size that we have estimated, there will be more gas than local demand requires.
“This would mean we could export to South Africa to provide supply there and generate substantial forex for Zimbabwe,” he said.
Bongani Ndlovu