The total amount of natural gas in Mozambique’s Offshore Area 1 may be close to 100 trillion cubic feet (Tcf).
On Monday, oil and natural gas exploration company Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: APC) announced a new discovery of between 10 and 30 Tcf recoverable natural gas in its Atum well.
That brings the total recoverable resources in the area to between 30 and 60 Tcf, also including an earlier discovery of 7 to 20 Tcf at the Golfinho natural gas exploration well. The most recent discovery is connected to the Golfinho discovery.
Bob Daniels, Anadarko’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Exploration, said in the press release:
“We plan to immediately commence a four-well appraisal program of this complex, which has the potential to underpin a large LNG development.”
Mozambique is located on the southeastern coast of Africa, bordered by South Africa and Zimbabwe among other nations. The Rovuma Basin, where Offshore Area 1 is located, is off the coast of the northern part of the country.
The Atum well was drilled 12,665 feet deep in waters 3,285 feet deep according to the press release.
CEO Al Walker believes that the discovery will help keep company plans on track:
“A recoverable resource base of this scale supports our initial two-train development plans, as well as significant future expansions. Our current activity is focused on achieving reserve certification and a Final Investment Decision in 2013, as the parnership works toward expected first sales of LNG in 2018.”
This two-train plan he references includes the intention to build plants to liquefy the natural gas.
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Anadarko has a 36.5% stake in Offshore Area 1. Mitsui E&P owns 20%, BPRL Ventures, a subsidiary of Bharat Petroleum Corp. Ltd. (NSE: BPCL), and Videocon Industries (BOM: 511389) each own 10%, and Cove Energy (LON: COV) owns 8.5%.
This discovery has raised the stakes in an ongoing bidding war between PTT Exploration and Production (PINK: PEXNY) of Thailand and Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) for a takeover of Cove Energy.
Last month, Cove agreed to PTT’s $1.9 billion offer. Now, however, analysts expect Shell to come back with another offer, since analysts anticipate Cove to increase in value.
Cove was up 1.21% on Monday to 265.16. Anadarko jumped to $64.68 at opening, falling back down to $63.21 by afternoon.
*Image courtesy of Ports and Ships
