A Nigerian company exploring oil and gas opportunities in Sierra Leone says it is close to discovering a potentially huge gas find in the country.
Innoson Oil and Gas Limited announced on Saturday that it’s on the verge of discovering a deposit of 8.2 trillion cubic feet (TCF) and 234 MMbbl of gas and condensate, respectively, in the Sierra Leonean basin.
The revelation was made via a statement issued by the head of Corporate Communications of the company, Cornel Osigwe, who revealed that the US-based independent petroleum consulting firm, Ryder Scott Company, confirmed the findings after a recent independent third party evaluation.
“With estimated recoverable resources of 8.2 TCF and 234 MMbbl of gas and condensate respectively, the Ryder Scott Company, has confirmed Innoson Oil & Gas Ltd.’s own findings from a rigorous hydrocarbon exploration campaign it’s been engaged in, in the Sierra Leonean basin since 2020,” the statement, dated May 14, notes.
Innoson Oil and Gas Limited, which is part of the IVM Innoson Group, has been exploring for hydrocarbon offshore Sierra Leone since it was awarded nine graticular provisional blocks in May 2020. In 2021, the Sierra Leone parliament ratified the petroleum exploration and production license of the company. The concession comprises a total of 11 offshore oil wells.
According to Innoson, the Sierra Leonean basin has a working petroleum system, corroborated by oil deposits encountered during previous exploration activities, amongst others, by Anadarko, Repsol, and Tullow Oil that achieved the Venus B1 discovery and Mercury wells.
The Nigerian firm said a development opportunity with regards this discovery is currently being appraised, adding that asset evaluation, a field development plan, and the setup of a data room are vigorously pursued with the immediate objective to engage a partner with the financial strength, technological and management competencies to accomplish joint discovery, development, and production.
In its statement, IOG says it has a 100% working interest on the prospect with a 10% carried, plus an optional 5% paid interest(s) for the Sierra Leone government.
“Attractive fiscal and tax regimes by the state of Sierra Leone offer a flexible and robust environment for operations,” it added.
The IVM Innoson Group described itself as a multi-dimensional business organization that has various business interests in automobile manufacturing and assembling, plastic production oil and gas, ICT, wood processing and hospitality.
The oil and gas company located in Uru Umudim, Nnewi, Anambra State was incorporated in 2019 as an expansion of Innoson Petrochemicals Ltd which has been in operation for 10 years.
