The departure of Shell Gabon and some companies in the para-oil sector of Port-Gentil, did not undermine the will of the American company Vaalco to continue its investments in Gabon.
Vaalco SA Deputy General Manager Clotaire Kondja said in an exchange with the journalists that “there will be no question of dismissing our employees or putting the key under the mat but rather redoubling our efforts and ingenuity to reach the end of our commitments with the Gabonese State “.
It was during 2014 that the management of Vaalco SA promised to support the Gabonese state in the oil exploration. Vaalco SA and its partners have invested since 1995 more than 1000 billion CFA francs (US $ 2.5 billion) in the drilling of 18 oil wells connected to four offshore platforms and a floating storage and unloading vessel .
In the first quarter of 2018, the company produced 13,500 barrels of oil per day from 10 of its wells on its Etame marine license. In addition, it has restored its Avouma platform which produces 3000 barrels / day.
In Gabon, the presence of oil deposits is known from the late 1920s, thanks to the prospections of the Compagnie Générale Geophysique. But the first oil wells came into operation only in 1957, on the onshore field of Ozouri, near Port-Gentil. That same year begins the construction of the Cap Lopez terminal.
The first producer was a consortium of Elf-Gabon and Shell Gabon, which shared most of the deposits awarded by the Ministry of Petroleum and the National Oil Company of Gabon. Although the Gabonese onshore mining sector has been extremely explored, the future of Gabonese oil lies in the deep sea, it is said.
By Antoine Lawson
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