Guy Roger Ngatcha-led Panafrican Energy Services Group secures major oil deal in Cote d’Ivoire

Panafrican Energy Services Group has announced a deal with the Petroci CI-11 state-run oil company in Cote d’Ivoire to provide intervention services for five wells in Block CI-11, Africanews reported.

Panafrican Energy is an African oil and gas company led by Managing Director Guy Roger Ngatcha. The company earlier made history as Tanzania’s first natural gas producer, supplying gas for power generation at the Ubungo Power Plant in Dar es Salaam.

In a statement, Ngatcha said the signing of the deal is a testament to the high quality of services that the company previously delivered in Cote d’Ivoire. The deal will see the company maximize the Block CI-11 oil and gas field asset value through the use of gaslift.

The deal could also boost the country’s extractive sector, which has not yet been fully harnessed given the enormity of competition from the neighboring West African countries of Ghana and Nigeria.

Commenting on the deal, African Energy Chamber Executive Chairman NJ Ayuk said the oil and gas industry will continue to grow and see industry collaborations such as these on a larger scale. “We need to encourage more African companies to take the lead in the development of the continent’s oil and gas industry,” he said.

Block CI-11 is one of two blocks that saw increased gas output in the first half of 2020, the government said in September.

Block CI-11 is home to the Lion oil field and Panthere gas field. Petroci took over as the primary operator in 2013 after acquiring Afren’s stake in the block and in a connected liquefied natural gas plant. It owns a 68-percent stake in the block.

In November 2020, Bloomberg reported that the Anglo-French oil company Perenco was seeking to buy a controlling stake in Block CI-11, which was being operated by a consortium, including Petroci. Perenco had sought to become the leading operator in one of four oil- and gas-producing blocks in Cote d’Ivoire.