Assinco

The company had a lot of non-operated assets that we have taken over: it's important to know that Tullow Oil Gabon produces today 13,000 barrels per day. Our position of « non-operator » in the country is mainly due to the legacy of Energy Africa rather than a desire not to operate. Tullow Oil was present in Gabon before the acquisition of Energy Africa on the block Kiarsseny off Libreville. We are currently conducting an interesting exploration program on this block on which I will elaborate later. 2. Today, Tullow holds interests in 18 licenses with 11 fields in production. Could you develop on your various partnerships with oil operators in Gabon regarding your exploration and production activities? We have mainly partnered with Perenco, which operates 75% of our production; Maurel & Prom, Addax Petroleum and Vaalco are responsible for the last 25%. The strategy of Tullow Oil in Gabon is based on two geological themes: pre-salt operations in partnership respectively with Vaalco and Perenco in our Mayumba field and in Echire and Niungo onshore fields. The second theme relates to our activities in the Ogooué Delta in partnership with Perenco in the onshore field of Oba and offshore fields of Limande, Turnix and Tchatamba. Chronologically, Tullow Oil then started operating in the onshore fields of Tsiengui and Obangue in partnership with Addax Petrolueum. Later, we followed the impulse of Maurel & Prom, which imported ideas from successful exploration operations in the field of Mboundi in Congo where Tullow is also in partnership with the French group. Basal sandstone related-operations, which is the third theme that is being developed in Gabon, has contributed to major discoveries over the last three years in the country. Regarding exploration, we have partnered with Perenco on the theme of pre-salt in the onshore permit of Nziembou and we will shortly apply for two other exploration permits in the Delta of the Ogooué. Our long-term objective is to identify the various opportunities in the oil sector based on geological studies that are conducted by our team of experts, the very one who discovered the Jubilee field in Ghana and Lake Albert's potential in Uganda, and establish win-win partnerships with operators in Gabon. 3. Related to your exploration activities, you led at the end of 2009 a campaign on the KIARSSENY MARINE permit located between Cape Estérias and Libreville. Could you elaborate on your recent discoveries and your future development projects? This is a license that is entirely offshore located in the Western Cape Estérias. Since the seismic data of this license was outdated and the permit operating date expired in September of last year, Tullow has agreed with the Ministry of Mines to acquire new seismic data rather than drilling a well that might happen to be inconclusive. Then, we have led a 1300 km2 offshore 3D seismic survey at the end of 2009. The year 2010 was devoted to processing this area as well as the 600 km2 former zone. This allows us to exploit a volume of 2000 km2 available for interpretation and drilling analysis as part of our new exploration campaign. We will subsequently choose the location where we will be drilling two obligation wells: these operations should begin in early 2012 in partnership with Addax Petroleum. In 2010, our investment budget including exploration and development projects, reached 57 billion FCFA (87 millions Euros). In 2011, we plan to invest up to 71 billion FCFA (108 millions Euros) in Gabon. Much of this investment will be used to maintain levels of production in fields of our partners and undertake new drilling operations. 4. The government has been actively engaged in preserving the environment in Gabon passing recently new regulations. Could you elaborate on these initiatives taken by the government but also Tullow's actions for the environment? Oil companies usually make significant effort to preserve the environment. Here in Gabon, the government has recently introduced new regulations regarding the ban on gas flaring with challenging objectives to be reached by 2015. The operators work closely with the Ministry of Mines to set up an investment plan along with strong measures regarding producing fields to recover flared gas. Since 2003, Tullow has supported the Programme for Conservation and Rational Utilization of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa (ECOFAC) in Gabon and the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is our contribution to preserve the environment. 5. Tullow Oil is also aware of its social responsibility as part of its activities participating to a development program in partnership with UNICEF (United Nations Children's Fund). Could you elaborate on this initiative and your impact on the socio-economic development of the country? We have completed at the end of 2010 a project in cooperation with UNICEF related to the prevention against HIV/AIDS: we have set up two training/prevention centers for schoolchildren and students in Gabon. They can go there to be medically treated or simply to receive advice in this area. Also, we have participated in the implementation of a training center for "peer trainers". These are young students who receive training on the fight against HIV/AIDS and whose mission is to spread the message among their colleagues. We believe that discussions on this type of subject are relatively more effective between people of the same age. At Tullow Oil Gabon, we have just completed an awareness campaign to the problems of malaria for our employees and Perenco has completed a campaign against diabetes and health consequences. It is important to keep our employees aware of these risks so they can take adequate actions and work in the best conditions. Apart from health, Tullow Oil is trying to impact on the socio-economic development of Gabon by participating in important community projects: I would take as an example the rehabilitation of the airport of Mayumba in partnership with Perenco, Maurel & Prom, Addax and Vaalco. This will effectively open up a whole region and allow local people to be better connected to urban centers. 6. Tullow Oil is present in many countries in the Gulf of Guinea, mainly in partnership with other operators. As Director of the Central African Region for Tullow, could you elaborate on the group's expansion plans in the sub-region? In Congo, we have partnered with the Italian group "ENI" in the Mboundi field, which undergoes a major 3-year redevelopment program. We should also participate in a call for tender, related to exploration operations, to be launched by the Congolese government on onshore and offshore licenses. In Equatorial Guinea, we are present in the Ceiba and Okume fields operated by Hess. This is a great success for Tullow Oil because production exceeds our expectations. There is a redevelopment project of these fields that includes a significant investment budget. Last year, we completed a 4D seismic survey and we are planning a new drilling campaign on Ceiba field in late 2011 and in 2012 for Okoume. In Gabon, we will take part in the discussion related to the 42 deep offshore blocks, which the government is attributing for exploration. Tullow Oil should focus on the shallower blocks because most of them are beyond 3000m deep and this requires major investment.