Sunbird's Ibhubesi licence transfer approved
Sunbird Energy MD Will Barker discusses the latest developments at the company's Ibhubesi project. Video courtesy of Sunbird Energy.
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The South African government has approved the transfer of an offshore licence, which includes the Ibhubesi gas project, to ASX-listed Sunbird Energy.
The approval allows Sunbird to acquire a 76% interest in the production licence from Forest Oil and Anschutz Corporation. South Africa’s national oil company, PetroSA, holds the balance.
Sunbird chairperson Kerwin Rana commented that the approval represented a critical milestone for the company, consolidating its position as the operator of what is described as South Africa’s largest and most advanced undeveloped gas field.
“The transfer allows us to now focus on securing a gas market, which will further unlock the significant value of the project’s proven reserve base and large exploration potential. On our current economic modelling of the 2P reserve base, the project has a potential net present value of over $1-billion.”
Rana stated that the company was advancing two key routes to market for the project, which included a supply to electricity producer Eskom and an independent power plant tender for a new 474 MW gas-fired facility.
Sunbird had also started field development planning as part of the front-end engineering and design phase, which would enable the project to reach a final investment decision by early 2015.
The initial phase of the project, which is located 380 km north of Cape Town and 105 km offshore, could involve an investment of between R12-billion and R14-billion to produce 28.3-billion cubic feet of gas yearly over an initial six- to eight-year horizon.
In August, Sunbird secured funding from the US Trade and Development Agency for Ibhubesi. The US foreign assistance agency will provide 80% of the funding for a A$1-million work programme, which US-based consultants MHA Petroleum will undertake.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation