PetroNor E&P has provided an update on the Congo operations related to the PNGF Sud field complex.

Third quarter average net working interest production was 4,7631 bopd, compared with 4,684(1) bopd in the previous quarter and 5,113 bopd in the same period in 2023. During 2024 production efficiency has been impacted by system instabilities from interruptions to third-party power imports, commissioning activities, and a growing well workover list. During the third quarter, production efficiency average improved to 86 per cent from the previous quarter average of 81 per cent. (For reference, the 2023 average production efficiency was 92 per cent).

The new gas supply line from Litanzi and Tchibeli to Tchendo 2 was completed during the quarter, which provides for the new Tchendo 2 generators to be independent of third-party gas imports and fully meet the power demands of the PNGF Sud field complex. The well workover list is declining, and production efficiency improvement is therefore expected to continue in the fourth quarter. Additional infill drilling activities are planned in 2025.

As communicated before, the company has lifted and sold 914,268 bbls of oil for an average realised price of USD 82.70 per barrel year-to-date. The next lifting is forecasted to be in the first quarter of 2025 with a year-end inventory of entitlement oil expected to be approximately 400,000 bbls.

(1) Final (net to PetroNor 16.83 per cent) production allocation for the month of July and August, preliminary production allocation for September.

PNGF SUD Licence overview 

Since the entry of the new contractor group in early 2017, incremental improvements via well workovers, surface production process improvements and structural integrity and HSE improvements have resulted in year-on-year growth in production at a relatively low CAPEX spending. The goal has been to optimise the existing well stock by re-activating producers and injectors, re-allocating production intervals, increasing well lift capacities as well as increasing and managing production capacities and intra-field power consumption between the 8 wellhead-platforms in PNGF-Sud.

Licence activity 
The average gross PNGF production was 23,891 bopd in 2022 with a continued low lifting cost of $12.4/bbl. The workover programme continued successfully in 2022. On the surface side, significant investments were made on additional water handling capacity, additional export pumps plus starting the commissioning on additional generators for intra-field power generation. Correspondingly, integrity improvements were made on several steel structures.

The 17 well infill drilling programme started in 2021. A total of 6 wells on Litanzi and Tchibeli NE were drilled between November 2021 and November 2022. Drilling progress was initially significantly delayed due to failure of equipment such as the top-drive system and generators. The effect of these delays on the field was however offset by significantly better production performance than expected including the addition of an exploration discovery in the pre-salt (Vanji) in Tchibeli NE which was immediately put on production.

Production capacity thus increased from an average 20.6 kbopd in 2021, via an average 2022 production of 23.9 kbopd to a production capacity significantly above 30 kbopd in the initial period of 2023.