Buyers wary of Angola Clov quality

Details of Angola's newest crude grade Clov have emerged, and the wide range in API quality is making potential buyers wary for now.

At present, deepwater Clov grade contains crude from an Oligocene reservoir (75pc) and from a Miocene reservoir(25pc). The Oligocene is lighter at 32-35° API, while crude from the Miocene can be much heavier at 20-32° API, according to operator Total.

Clov is on Block 17, which also includes the fields producing Dalia, Pazflor and Girassol grades. Clov's quality lies somewhere between Dalia and Girassol.

Further wells are to be drilled next year as the grade heads towards forecast 160,000 b/d peak production, boosting Angola's stagnating crude output. This may stabilise the quality.

The first 1mn bl Clov export cargo will load around 20 July and will stay within Total's refining system. Around 4mn bl will load in August with all of the crude being kept by other partners in the project including Statoil (23.3pc), ExxonMobil (20pc) and BP (16.67pc).

But potential future buyers of the crude have complained of the varying API quality, concerned that it is unclear what precise quality of crude would be delivered. The grade's acid level has also proved a bugbear with a TAN of 1.26mgKOH/g compared to Girassol's 0.35mgKOH/g, although Dalia is somewhat higher at 1.50mKOH/g.

Angolan production has averaged just 1.6mn b/d this year, down from 1.71mn b/d last year. A high decline rate at older fields, of around 15pc, means achievement of overall production growth is proving elusive.

BP-operated Saturno, in Block 31, was the last Angolan grade to come on stream, producing its first oil in December 2012, and now is producing around 150,000 b/d.

jw/ts

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