ETAP’s Mohamed Akrout: More than twenty open blocks in Tunisia available for potential investors

The President and CEO of the National Oil Company of Tunisia (ETAP), Mohamed Akrout, says Tunisia has maintained an image of a safe investment region in the post-Arab spring era by maintaining a good relationship with all investors in the oil & gas and the energy sector. Mr Akrout is one of several North African leading oil and gas decision makers who will address current and prospective investors in the industry at the upcoming North Africa Oil & Gas Summit in Madrid from 25-27 October.

For the first time since the crisis in North Africa, new leaders of regional national oil companies (NOCs) will meet to take stock of the industry in the region. Some 350 oil and gas industry experts are expected to gather for the event and the agenda includes discussions of new investment potential, the future of LNG exports, and upcoming licensing rounds in the post-Arab spring period.

Ambitious development plans for Southern Tunisia
According to Mr Akrout, Tunisia saw only a small impact on their exploration and production activities in 2011. He continues: “the minimal disruption was an important factor for successful acquisitions such as OMV’s acquisition of Pioneer Resources that took place earlier this year.” According to Mr Akrout, ETAP is currently finalising an ambitious drilling program with OMV, aiming to develop and maximize recent discoveries in Southern Tunisia and is also working on improving business relations with other investors.

Frontier and unconventional plays as a driver for future developments
Tunisia has achieved an important milestone by awarding most of the Northern Offshore Tunisia to two major oil companies, an area considered as a frontier area, located in deep water.

Mr Akrout adds: “We have started to explore deep water in the Mediterranean Sea by acquiring a new seismic program; we will be focusing with our partners on exploring at depths never before reached. We need to keep that ‘’Can Do’’ attitude to succeed. We believe that 70-dollars or more per barrel of oil remains economic and attractive for all players active in this region.”

“On the other hand”, he continues, “ETAP have started exploring and promoting the unconventional plays, such as shale gas and tight oil reserves with IOCs, these sources that will be transforming the outlook of the oil and gas industry in the future in the North African region and which will bring the technology into new plays in Tunisia.”

He says the company is hoping that future E&P activities in the unconventional domain will contribute to the creation of value by maximising national hydrocarbon wealth and spending on more commercial reserve replacement in E&P activities.

Update on STGP
On the South Tunisia Gas Project (STGP), which entails the construction of a gas receiving station located in the Tunisian sahara, Mr Akrout says “a 320km pipeline of 28” that will transport raw gas from the south to a gas treatment plant (GTP) is to be built near Gabes town located in Southeastern Tunisia.”

He explains: “the initial treatment capacity is 4.4 Millions S m3/day, (about 155 MMCFGPD); the pipeline could reach the capacity up to 10 Millions S m3 /day, (about 350 MMCFGPD). A consortium composed by Eni, OMV and ETAP has been created to manage the project that is presently in feed phase. A fast truck execution strategy has also been set up by the Consortium in order to foresee the project mechanical acceptance by early 2014.”

New licensing rounds for developing offshore and onshore blocks
Regarding upcoming licensing rounds, ETAP’s President and CEO says: “we are using pseudo-licensing rounds. Oil & Gas companies have to fulfill certain criteria to have access to the data room of the available open blocks. The Committee Consultative of Hydrocarbon meets every quarter. First bid opening is scheduled for the end January, end of April, end of July and end of October of each year. We have more than twenty open blocks, located offshore and onshore Tunisia, available for potential investors in the E&P sector.“

Mr Mohamed Akrout will be sharing his expertise with attendees of the North Africa Oil & Gas Summit on Thursday 27 October 2011. He will be discussing the latest regional developments – technology showcases, new projects and future licensing rounds.

Event dates:
25 October: Shale and tight gas workshop
26-27 October: Summit
Event location: Hotel Melia Castilla, located near to the Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid

North Africa Oil & Gas Summit is part of Clarion Events, the UK's largest independent events company with annual turnover of over £150m, drawing upon over 80 years of experience of hosting strategic conferences conferences and seated events across Britain, Europe, North and South America, Africa, Middle East and Asia. Our events, business-to-business and business-to-consumer, serve 15 different market sectors from leisure and entertainment to finance, from retail to gaming and from fine art to energy.

Communications manager: Annemarie Roodbol
Tel. +27 21 700 3558
Fax. +27 21 700 3501
Mobile: +27 82 562 7844
Email: annemarie.roodbol@clarionevents.com
Postal address: PO Box 321, Steenberg, 7947, South Africa

This release was published on openPR.