Production sharing contract (PSC) is one of the most commonly used contract type in international petroleum cooperation practices, under which, contractors obtain net reserves composed of in kind “cost oil” and “profit oil” by taking risks, bearing exploration, development and production costs, paying royalties, income taxes and other fees to the government of the resource country (the host government). The net reserves owned by a contractor refer to the remaining economic recoverable reserves that the contractor can obtain during the remaining contract period, which represent the real revenue the contractor can realize. Taking Project XX in Africa for example, this paper analyzed the methods for estimating net oil and gas reserves under PSCs, discussed the impacts of production, decline rate, plan, prices, costs, profit oil sharing and taxes on net reserves from four aspects including technique, economics, commerciality and engineering. In addition, the paper also made sensitivity analysis of the factors having significant influence on net reserves, such as the oil production, oil prices, operation expenses and investment, and put forward some recommendations for optimizing field development strategies to maximize contractors’ economic benefits.

The Middle East is the region with the lowest oil and gas production cost in the world and has always been the key area for investment by oil companies. With the large-scale bidding after the Iraq War, the number of bidding blocks provided annually in the Middle East has been greatly reduced, and the number of bidding blocks provided by the UAE government is relatively large. After the expiration of the existing contracts in 2014, the UAE government started block bidding and auction on a large scale, and offered favorable contract terms. The assets with great investment values attracted international oil giants. In this paper, based on the survey of bidding contracts of Abu Dhabi in recent years, fiscal and tax terms, demand markets, prices and costs to be focused on have been sorted out, an economic evaluation model for bidding blocks in Abu Dhabi has been established, and evaluation conclusions have been drawn through financial analysis and uncertainty analysis. Finally, the applicability of the economic evaluation analysis method and evaluation procedure has been verified through examples, so as to provide reference and enlightenment for international oil companies to participate in the new round of bidding of the UAE in the future.

Africa is a key area for overseas oil and gas investment cooperation due to the low degree of oil and gas exploration and great resource potential. All oil and gas resource countries have certain common characteristics in contract modes, fiscal and tax terms, economic conditions, infrastructure and bidding methods. A theoretical system of rapid economic evaluation technology suitable for the characteristics of Africa can be established to provide the methods and basis for investment decisions of oil and gas development projects in Africa. In this paper, on the basis of a systematic study on oil contract modes in Africa and the legal terms, sales market, actual operations and evaluation and prediction parameters to be focused on, an economic evaluation index system has been established, including analysis framework establishment, financial benefit analysis and uncertainty analysis; finally, an oil and gas development project in Africa is taken as an example to verify the above-mentioned rapid economic evaluation technology. This technology system is applicable to economic evaluation of most oil and gas development projects in Africa, covering the possible factors, scenarios and problems in the process of project evaluation, facilitating the realization of a rapid and effective economic evaluation process and the achievement of scientific and reasonable results.