Letter from Africa: West African deepwater developers face FPSO choice
Decision may prove critical to the viability of the next tranche of regional projects
Are the days of large-scale, greenfield upstream projects coming to an end? While it is true there is a greater focus on short-cycle developments, large, advantaged projects can still compete for capital. The world-class projects offshore Brazil and Guyana grab the headlines, but there could also be another wave of standalone developments in West Africa. Operators are likely to make FID on at least four floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) projects in the next 6-24 months. European IOCs are leading the charge, with TotalEnergies, Shell and Italy’s Eni all progressing plans to develop resources across Angola, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire. Competitive fiscal terms and top-class rese
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