Russian geological company Rosgeo will start exploration on Block 15 on the Sudanese shelf in 2019 to help the country to overcome electricity deficit, the company's CEO Roman Panov told Sputnik on Tuesday.
VLADIVOSTOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 11th September, 2018) Russian geological company Rosgeo will start exploration on Block 15 on the Sudanese shelf in 2019 to help the country to overcome electricity deficit, the company's CEO Roman Panov told Sputnik on Tuesday.
"An agreement has been signed in Sudan on possible exploration and development of Block 15 with potential significant gas resources, and we plan to start seismic exploration there next year," Panov said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.
Investments in the project at the first stage of geological exploration, which includes seismic exploration and drilling of two exploratory wells, are estimated at about $200 million, which will be provided by the Sudanese government and financial institutions led by the African Development Bank, he noted.
"We are one of the participants in such a consortium, in fact we are the operator of the project ... The subsequent implementation will solve the problems related to the electricity deficit in the Republic of Sudan," Panov said.
African shelf is one of the company's prioritized areas of work, the top manager stressed.
"We work regularly on the shelf of Angola, Nigeria, South Africa, and we see that the region's resource potential is very high," Panov said.
In July, Rosgeo signed an agreement with Sudanese Oil and Gas Ministry on the exploration and development of the Block 15 oil and gas deposit on the shelf of the Red Sea.
Next year, the company also plans to sign contracts and start exploration work on the shelf of South Africa, and possibly in Mozambique, Panov said.
"One of the potential contracts that we are finalizing is about the shelf of South Africa. We have signed an agreement with the state oil and gas corporation of South Africa. We are also looking at the possibility of carrying out works on the shelf of Mozambique," he said.
It is also planned to sign next year a contract on the continuation of work in Bahrain, he added.
Rosgeo has earlier reported that it planned to start hydrocarbons exploration on two blocks on the South African shelf in the Indian Ocean in the 2018-2019 season. Total investments in the project are estimated at over $500 million.
The fourth EEF kicked off earlier on Tuesday and will last through Thursday on the island of Russky in Vladivostok. Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency is the general information partner of the forum.
