Trident kicks off the new year with fresh Congo acreage

UK-headquartered oil and gas company Trident Energy has completed the acquisition of Chevron’s Congolese subsidiary and its in-country assets, and a working interest in two fields from TotalEnergies off the coast of Congo.

Thanks to the deals, the UK player’s working interest in the Nkossa and Nsoko II fields is now 85%, and its stake in the Lianzi field is 15.75%, with Trident taking over as operator of both. Furthermore, the oil and gas firm acquired a 21.5% interest in the Moho–Bilondo field, operated by TotalEnergies. 

The acquisition, which was announced in April 2024, is expected to add approximately 30,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) to Trident. The UK player has called this deal “significant.”

Jean-Michel Jacoulot, Chief Executive of Trident Energy ML said: “We are extremely pleased to have completed the acquisition which marks a new chapter in our history. We are excited to enter the Republic of Congo, take over the operations and deliver the full potential of these assets. We look forward to working with TotalEnergies Congo, the SNPC and the Congolese Government to generate further value to the assets.”

Nkossa and Nsoko II are two mature oil fields located 70 kilometers off the Congolese coast. Brought on stream in 1996 and 2006, TotalEnergies stated in 2024 that their combined production was 15 kboe/d.

Covering an area of 320 square kilometers in water depths ranging from 750 to 1200 meters, the Moho-Bilondo offshore block covers the Moho-Bilondo and Moho Nord fields and comprises four reservoirs. Two of the block’s reservoirs started producing oil in 2008 using the Alima floating production unit (FPU).

Moho Nord, which came on stream in March 2017, is a deep offshore oil project situated 75 kilometers off the Congolese coast. According to TotalEnergies, it is the largest oil project ever undertaken in the Republic of the Congo. Its two stages, Moho Phase 1 bis and Moho Nord produce 140,000 barrels of oil per day, amounting to what the French major says is over half of the country’s total oil production.

Brought online in 2015, the Lianzi field is located 105 kilometers offshore the Angola province of Cabinda, where the water is approximately 900 meters deep. It forms part of a unitized offshore zone distributed equally between the Republic of Angola and the Republic of the Congo, adjacent to Angola’s Block 14. 

TotalEnergies and Chevron are working together on Angola’s first non-associated gas project as part of a consortium with Azule Energy and Sonangol–the Quiluma and Maboqueiro (Q&M) field development project. 

Saipem, which was hired for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) portion of the project, recently shared that the jacket for the Quiluma platform arrived at the site for installation.