- Cross border gas discoveries Yolanda and Yoyo recognized as a single resource by Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon.
- MoU signed by the governments on July 10 to enable joint development of the offshore gas field.
- Talks on unitization of the gas field to begin following conclusion of initial agreement.
Malabo
The governments of Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon have officially agreed that two contiguous gas discoveries in their maritime border area represent a single resource, and that the gas condensate field would be jointly developed by the two nations.
The Yolanda gas discovery in Equatorial Guinea’s Block I lies directly across the border from the Yoyo gas discovery in Cameroon’s Yoyo Block. Both fields were found in 2007 and the blocks are operated by Noble Energy EG Ltd. and Noble Energy Cameroon Ltd. A memorandum of understanding signed on July 10, 2017, by the Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea and the Government of the Republic of Cameroon recognizes the Yoyo-Yolanda gas condensate field as one resource and allows for the joint development of the gas field.
“We have a proud history of developing our resources quickly and efficiently, and the signing of this agreement is another demonstration of that,” said H.E. Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima. “Our partners in Cameroon share our ambition to rapidly bring the Yoyo-Yolanda field to production and to maximize the value from our nations’ abundant resources. I am excited about a fast track approach on this project.”
In October 2016 the Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon governments announced they had entered a data exchange agreement covering the Yoyo and Yolanda discoveries. The next step following the signing of the July 10 MoU is to begin talks on the unitization of the Yoyo-Yolanda gas field.
Yolanda is located in 896 meters of water approximately 50 km east of Bioko Island. The initial I-3 well was drilled in 2007 to a total depth of 2,890 meters and tested with flow rates of 371 bpd condensate and 36 mcf/d natural gas. Yoyo, situated to the east of Yolanda across the Cameroon border, is located in 528 meters water depth. The YoYo-1 well (also drilled in 2007) tested with flow rates of 330 bpd condensate and 31 mcf/d gas. Equatorial Guinea’s Block I contains the Aseng oil and gas condensate field, which has been producing since 2011.