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S. AND E. AFRICA
Moonlit day
Brief history of the country
Seychelles (the Republic of Seychelles) is an archipelago of granite and coral islands, most of which are uninhabited. They lie in the Indian Ocean 1,500 kms east of Africa with Madagascar to the southeast.
Austronesian and Arab sailors were probably the first to visit the Seychelles although the earliest recorded sighting was in 1502 by the Portuguese, who named them the Amirantes. The first landing was in 1609 by the British East India Company but the islands were only used as a transit point for pirates until the French settled in 1756.
They renamed them the Seychelles, establishing plantations of cinnamon, vanilla and copra. The British peacefully took control in 1794 when these early settlers capitulated. However, the UK went on to assume full ownership, (with Mauritius), in 1810, formalised in 1814 in the Treaty of Paris.
The islands became a Crown Colony, separating from Mauritius in 1903. Independence was granted in 1976. At the time the Seychelles had become a playground for the rich but a coup in 1977 installed a socialist one-party state.
A series of further coup attempts lasted until 1993 when a multi-party system was introduced. The economy is now mostly tourist-based. Agriculture, especially sweet potatoes, support the population whilst exports of fish are also a valuable source of revenue.
Oil and gas summary
The Seychelles archipelago consists of around 150 islands and islets. There are 45 granite islands, known as the Granitic Seychelles, the largest of which is Mahé.
Two coral sand cays lie north and two coral islands lie south of the Granitics. West of the granitics are 29 coral islands in the Amirantes group and, to their south, 13 coral islands in the Farquhar Group. Finally 67 coral islands of the Aldabra Group lie west of the Farquhar Group.
The country has no identified indigenous oil or gas resources, either onshore or offshore. The Granitics represents a continental fragment that began to break away from Gondwana in the Triassic and from India in the late Cretaceous. Potential oil bearing offshore basins may be associated with this rifting but the 4 wells drilled to the west of the islands have failed to find commercial hydrocarbons.
Globalshift believes that the Seychelles are thus unlikely to achieve any production in the foreseeable future despite the occasional licensing agreement.
Seychelles imports three times more oil than is needed for local use, re-exporting the surplus as bunker for ships and aircraft calling at Mahé. There is no refining capacity.
SEYCHELLES
Map and National Flag
South and East Africa
Capital
Population
Land area (sq kms)
Oil prod (000s b/d)
Gas prod (bcm/yr)
Oil cons (000s b/d)
Gas cons (bcm/yr)
Victoria
0.09 mm
452
None
None
8.5
None
Government
The Seychelles president is head of state and head of government elected for a 5-year term. The cabinet is appointed by the president. It has a unicameral parliament called the National Assembly consisting of 34 members, 25 of whom are elected and 9 appointed. All members serve 5-year terms.
Oil imports, distribution and re-export are the responsibility of Seychelles Petroleum (Sepec).
In 1984 a national oil company, currently PetroSeychelles, was formed to deal with oil and gas exploration activities.
Geology and History of Exploration
The islands of the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean are part of the granitic Mascarene Plateau which broke off from the Indian Plate about 66 mm years ago at the end of the Cretaceous. This rifting was linked to the Reunion hotspot which is also responsible for the Mascarene islands, including Mauritius, and the Deccan Traps in India.
Offshore seismic data over the plateau has revealed a block-faulted sequence overlain by flat-lying sediments that make up a rift-drift succession. The section reaches at least 6,000 metres in thickness.
Four wells have been drilled to evaluate this basin but no petroleum potential has been identified in these offshore waters sufficient to justify further drilling.
History - The Seychelles has limited exploration activity and no history of production. In the 1970s the first seismic acquisition was conducted in the region when Mobil included the Mascarene Plateau and adjacent coral banks on a regional survey that ran from East Africa to Sri Lanka.
Burmah Oil acquired reconnaissance seismic over the plateau in 1973, imaging a thick sedimentary basin. Several other oil and gas companies began to evaluate this basin in 1977, acquiring a large amount of 2D seismic and other geophysical data.
The first exploratory well was drilled by Amoco in 1980 followed by two further wells. All were dry but reportedly encountered oil and gas shows.
Enterprise, Texaco and Ultramar acquired additional blocks from 1986 and ran more seismic up to 1995 when Enterprise drilled the 4th and last exploration well in Seychelles waters. It failed to reach its target of pre-Tertiary clastics, ending in Palaeocene volcanics at 3400 m.
Further companies took out exploration blocks from 2005 and a 3D seismic program was completed in 2012. However, no wells were drilled and most of these companies have now left.