Chevron expands E&P acreage in West Africa, foresees drilling revival

(Bloomberg) – Chevron Corp. has expanded its exploration acreage in African oil producers including Nigeria and Angola, where it sees the potential for a production revival despite years of decline. 

West Africa is “such a hydrocarbon rich part of the world and relatively under-explored compared to other jurisdictions,” said Liz Schwarze, vice president of global exploration.  While some peers area heading for the exit, Chevron is adding multiple blocks.

In Nigeria — where oil production has slipped about half a million bpd over the last five years — Chevron acquired a stake in a new exploration block and made a separate discovery last month, Schwarze said. The company also took on two deepwater licenses in nearby Equatorial Guinea, another declining producer. 

“The proof is in the action,” Schwarze said in an interview in Cape Town. 

The biggest crude producers on the continent have fallen far below their peak production levels as oil majors have focused their investments elsewhere, or departed countries completely after decades of operations. 

Frontier exploration remains an important aspect of Chevron’s search for resources on the continent, Schwarze said. It started drilling a well in Egypt this month and plans to start an exploration campaign in Namibia in December. In Angola, which quit the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries last year following a slump in its crude output, Chevron added deepwater blocks 49 and 50.