SOCO International

Soco International plc
Public company
Traded as LSE: SIA
Industry Oil and Gas Exploration
Founded 1997 as Snyder Oil Corporation International
Headquarters London, England
Key people
 Rui de Sousa, chairman
Ed Story, CEO
Revenue $448.2 million (2014)[1]
$152.6 million (2014)[1]
$14.0 million (2014)[1]
Website www.socointernational.co.uk

SOCO International plc is an international oil and gas exploration and production company, headquartered in London. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange.

The company has interests in Vietnam, the Republic of Congo and Angola.[2]

History

The CEO, Ed Story, focused the company on international gas and oil exploration and production, and the company soon held assets in Mongolia, Tunisia, Yemen and Thailand.[3]

In 2008 the Company agreed to sell its operations in Yemen to Sinochem for $US465 million.[4] In 2010 the company agreed to sell its Thailand assets to UK listed Salamander Energy for $US105m.[5] During 2010, the company is aiming to derisk 600 million barrels of potential net recoverable reserves with a drilling programme focused in Vietnam and the Democratic Republic of Congo.[6]

Operations

SOCO has been active in Vietnam since 1996 and currently has two oil and gas producing blocks in the country: Block 9-2 and Block 16-1 of the (Te Giac Trang field)[7] SOCO commenced oil production there in August 2015.

SOCO has a 17% interest in Cabinda Onshore North Block, in the North Congo Basin, onshore western Cabinda in Angola.[8]

In February 2016 SOCO started drilling the Baobab Marine-1 well in the Mer Profonde Sud block offshore the Congo Brazzaville – Marine XI. SOCO said the well is "unique" to all of the other wells drilled on or near that block because it is targeting a different type of prospect. The well is targeting gross prospective recoverable resources of 330 million barrels of oil.[2][9]

SOCO's operations in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo in the Onshore North Congo Basin e commenced in 2013 with a short bathymetry study of Lake Edward and ceased in August 2014, in accordance with its June 2014 public commitment .[10][11]

Criticisms

In 2012 SOCO began to explore for oil in the Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of the Congo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which is home to 200 of the remaining 700 seriously endangered mountain gorilla.[12] SOCO said it was not drilling for oil and had no plans to drill.[13][14] Drilling was strongly opposed and condemned by the World Wide Fund for Nature. In 2010 SOCO received a Presidential decree from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to explore for hydrocarbons in Block V, in the southern Albertine Graben, onshore eastern DRC. Block V encompassed an area of the Virunga National Park, a World Heritage Site, including a part of Lake Edward. SOCO had advised that Block V was not located close to the Mikeno Section, which is home to the mountain gorillas.[15]

In January 2011 SOCO employees allegedly forced their way into the Park, resulting in the conservation head of the park and several international agencies declaring their intention to bring lawsuits against SOCO. SOCO's share price subsequently fell.[16] SOCO's Deputy Chief Executive Officer Roger Cagle said at the time that "The forcible entry is blatantly false." Cagle said Soco was with a provincial member of parliament and had permission to enter the park.[17]

In March 2011 the then DRC Environment Minister Jose Endundo rejected an environmental assessment submitted by SOCO and announced that the government would now be conducting its own environmental assessment into oil exploration in Virunga, as well as the entire border region. Nevertheless, in September 2011 former Minister Endundo passed an order giving SOCO the authorisation to conduct the evaluation of hydrocarbons in the context of the Strategic Environmental Evaluation.[18]

In June 2014, SOCO signed a joint declaration with the World Wildlife Fund, saying it would not drill in Virunga "unless Unesco and the D.R.C. government agree that such activities are not incompatible with its World Heritage status".However, SOCO has yet to relinquish its operating permits or commit to an unconditional withdrawal…"They’re leaving the door open," said Zach Abraham, director of the World Wildlife Fund's global campaigns.[19]

In a statement, Ed Story, SOCO's chief executive, said: “Hopefully we can all get back to activities focused on both people and the environment where it does the most good for a place that we think can have a better future.”[20]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Preliminary Results 2014" (PDF). SOCO International. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 "SOCO commences drilling from Congo well – News for the Oil and Gas Sector". Energy Voice. 8 February 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  3. ↑ http://www.worldofceos.com/dossiers/edward-story-jr-2143
  4. ↑ Soco agrees to sell Yemen ops to China's Sinochem for $US465 million Forbes, 2 April 2008
  5. ↑ Proposed Disposal of Soco Thailand Company Website, 20 July 2010
  6. ↑ SOCO International launching major oil exploration programme Stockopedia 17 May 2010
  7. ↑ "{title}". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  8. ↑ "SOCO International plc 18.8% Potential Decrease Indicated by Barclays Capital". DirectorsTalk Interviews. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  9. ↑ "SOCO Drilling Baobab Marine-1 Well in Search of 330 Million Barrels". 8 February 2016. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  10. ↑ "Press release". WWF. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  11. ↑ http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/soco_wwf_statement_11_june_2014.pdf
  12. ↑ "DR Congo blocks Soco from oil search in Virunga park". BBC News. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  13. ↑ "Redirecting..." bdlive.co.za. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  14. ↑ Reuters (25 September 2012). "Soco International Oil Exploration in Democratic Republic of Congo Sanctuary Opposed By British". HuffPost. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
  15. ↑ "Block V and the Virunga National Park". Socointernational.co.uk. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  16. ↑ "Congo Wildlife Authority Presses Charges Against Soco". Bloomberg L.P. 17 February 2011. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
  17. ↑ "Congo Wildlife Authority Presses Charges Against Soco (Correct)". Origin-www.bloomberg.com. 17 February 2011. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
  18. ↑ "Ministry of the Environment" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 September 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  19. ↑ Gettleman, Jeffrey (15 November 2014). "Oil Dispute Takes a Page From Congo's Bloody Past". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  20. ↑ "British oil company SOCO agrees to cease operations in Congo's". The Independent. 11 June 2014. Retrieved 13 July 2017.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.