Africa Oil Company (AOI)
Oil and gas companies search for, produce, transport and refine petroleum and petrochemical products. They are also known as integrated oil and gas companies.
Despite the call heard around the world for businesses to divest from fossil fuels and shrink their carbon footprints, international oil and gas companies continue to recognize Africa as their next frontier.
Community Development
Oil is a major source of income for many African countries but extraction can have a number of negative impacts. Recognition is growing that social determinants like access to land and housing are also important drivers of long term community health and wellbeing.
Africa Oil has been working with communities to develop the skills and opportunities they need to thrive. Through the Lundin Foundation, Africa Oil supports multi-year initiatives focused on education and skills training. The Company’s core policies include anti-corruption, code of conduct and ethics, human rights and stakeholder engagement and community relations.
The EACOP pipeline corridor and Tilenga oilfields are in sensitive ecosystems that are critical for the survival of communities whose livelihoods depend on the water, land and air that these ecosystems provide. Some residents along the pipeline corridor have been pressured to sign compensation agreements that they believe are below the cost to purchase replacement land. Families that have withstood this pressure say they have been ignored despite several complaints to TotalEnergies EP Uganda and their subcontractors.
Corporate Social Responsibility
The Company has established a Corporate Social Responsibility policy, which sets out the commitment to ethical conduct and good citizenship. The policy applies to all employees, contractors and external stakeholders impacted by the Company’s operations.
Providing support to communities where the Company operates. This is primarily through sourcing and hiring locally, and through donating to community projects.
In Laisamis, the Company funded the construction and piping of a hospital, providing water for the community and treating over 75 patients per week. The Company also donated solar panels to the local community to replace kerosene lighting, which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and provides clean, safe and affordable cooking fuel.
Using accounting-based models, this study tests whether investments in and disclosure of CSR practices influence the financial sustainability performance of oil and gas multinational corporations with interests in emerging economies. The results support the preposition that functional CSR practices yield sustained dividends for companies. This is prudent for poverty alleviation initiatives and key to achieving sustainable development goals and targets in the countries where they operate.
Exploration
During 2023, it has been another banner year for Africa Oil Corp (TSX: AOI; Nasdaq-Stockholm: AOI), as the company has made significant discoveries in Namibia’s Orange Basin. According to estimates, Shell’s Jonker-1X discovery alone holds over 1.7 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Despite a global energy sector retreat and retrenchment that has seen international oil companies slim down their portfolios, Hill remains confident that frontier exploration will drive investment in Africa. In his view, Namibia’s offshore Orange Basin is one of the world’s most sought-after new petroleum regions.
Through minority equity stakes in Impact and Eco Atlantic, Africa Oil has exposure to two of the world’s most promising new hydrocarbon regions – Guyana and Namibia. The company also has active campaigns in Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria and South Africa, as well as the Senegal-Guinea Bissau Joint Development Zone. Its procurement processes prioritize sourcing and hiring local workers in the communities closest to its operations. This is a part of its commitment to being an exemplary corporate citizen.
Production
Africa Oil produces crude oil and natural gas in the deepwater Gulf of Guinea, with production from the Jubilee and Tano Cape Three Points fields. The Company also has an exploration/appraisal portfolio in Kenya, Namibia and South Africa. Africa Oil’s interests in these assets are held through direct ownership interests in concessions and shareholdings in investee companies.
The Company has a procurement process that prioritizes hiring and sourcing from communities closest to its operations. In the Block 9 development area in Kenya, this includes local communities near the Bahasi well and local communities at county level.
In 2022, the Company’s working interest production and net entitlement production averaged 24,000 and 25,000 boepd respectively, in line with the mid-point of its 2022 Management Guidance range. This production was derived from the Company’s 50% equity share of Prime Oil & Gas Cooperatief U.A’s (“Prime”) indirect 8% and 16% interests in Oil Mining Lease (“OML”) 127 and OML 130 (both in deep-water Nigeria).