Algeria's Energy Future was launched at a half-day round-table seminar at Chatham House, London, on Wednesday 6 April.
The report was presented at the seminar by its lead authors, Jon Marks and John Hamilton, and critically assessed by Algerian and international experts. Read more
The African Energy Atlas has established itself as an indispensable resource for energy industry professionals.
The 2011 edition features more than 45 maps and charts drawn with expert care by journalist cartographer David Burles. Read more
Briefings and Reports 2
AfricaHardball is an executive dialogue that brings together policy-makers, industry leaders and analysts to discuss the key political issues affecting African markets in frank and open terms.
The next AfricaHardball roundtable will be held on 1 December in London, focusing on North Africa Read more
Briefings and Reports 3
A detailed and frank analysis of Libya’s energy sector
Published in July 2010, Libya's Energy Future provides authoritative, independently sourced analysis of Libya’s energy sector policy and history, examines the country’s governance and financial record and assesses the potential for international partners to do business with its institutions and interest groups.
The African Energy Atlas 2011 is a 60-page book, featuring more than 45 maps and charts drawn with expert care by journalist cartographer David Burles.
Having established itself among energy industry professionals as an indispensable resource, Atlas 2011 contains expanded coverage of the sector, with more maps, detailed power and renewables sections and closer scrutiny of financial trends and environmental pressures.
Readers of the 2010 Atlas included senior government officials as well as executives at oil and gas companies, power utilities, engineering firms, universities, consultants, law firms and energy regulatory bodies.
India’s Essar Oil, which owns 50% of Kenya’s Mombasa refinery, has offered to build Uganda’s planned refinery. “There has been a big oil find in Uganda. To process it, they will need a refinery. We have suggested to the Ugandan government that we can set up that refinery,” Press Trust of India quoted Essar’s new managing director, LK Gupta, as saying. more
NIGERIA
Oando builds new gas pipe system
Oando Gas and Power has completed construction of a 128km gas pipeline system from Akwa Ibom to Cross River State. The pipeline was built under a joint-venture arrangement with the Nigerian Gas Company (NGC), a subsidiary of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. more
Dear Goodluck, Please surprise us with a PIB that rebuilds NNPC
Will 2012 be the year when malfunctioning giant Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is restructured as the cornerstone of an all-embracing overhaul of financing, licensing, regulation and operations in the Nigerian hydrocarbons industry? Co-ordinating minister of the economy and finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala believes a workable Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) can be drawn up to be re-presented to the National Assembly “soon” (AE 217/1). But “soon” in Nigerian parlance too usually means “we don’t know when” and, although President Goodluck Jonathan’s 13 December budget speech contained another call for official bodies and industry stakeholders to bring closure to the PIB (the first draft of which appeared in 2008), he did not say when and how. (Jonathan also failed to mention efforts to tackle the fuel subsidy, whose eradication is supposed to be another cornerstone of the Nigerian reform team’s platform.) more
CAMEROON
VOG says Logbaba start-up
on schedule
Victoria Oil and Gas (VOG) has said it is on schedule to start gas sales from its Logbaba field to industrial customers in Douala by year-end. more
EGYPT
Delayed BP project might not bode well for Egypt’s upcoming gas bidding round
Failure to address local environmental concerns and RWE’s divestment programme are hampering the development of gas in the West Nile Delta concessions, writes Nadine Marroushi in Cairo more
Issue 221 - 2 December 2011
SOUTH AFRICA
Another setback for South Africa refinery plans
Proposals for a refinery at Coega in the Eastern Cape have been thrown into doubt by the National Planning Commission’s lack of enthusiasm for a new refinery, writes Adrian J Browne more
GHANA
Oil flows boost election-year budget, but Ghana faces longer wait for gas
With oil production well under way, Ghanaians are looking to see what benefits will reach them in terms of gas supply and local content. The need for gas infrastructure is increasingly pressing, but the government’s pledge to have a processing plant up and running by end-2012 looks unlikely, writes Thalia Griffiths in Accra more
LIBYA
Libyan crude output rises faster than expected
With foreign workers yet to re-enter in significant numbers, NOC has defied political and security problems to get a larger proportion of Libyan production back on stream than many analysts predicted, writes John Hamilton more
Issue 220 - 18 November 2011
NAMIBIA
Namcor MD dismissed
Almost exactly a year after the board suspended him and ordered an independent audit of the loss-making parastatal’s activities, National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Namcor) managing director Sam Beukes has been dismissed (AE 199/16, 194/15). more
SOUTH AFRICA
Government orders audit of ‘unreliable’ refineries
Energy minister Elizabeth Dipuo Peters has ordered an audit to establish the reliability of six oil refineries following an increasing number of unplanned shutdowns. more
MOZAMBIQUE
Eni ‘to invest $50bn’ in Mozambique gas
It has drilled only one well, but the extent of Eni’s ambitions for its gas find in Mozambique’s Offshore Area 4 are becoming apparent, with the Italian major’s chief executive, Paolo Scaroni, telling one interviewer it could invest $50bn in developing the discovery and building infrastructure to export the gas to Asia (AE 219/15). more
Issue 219 - 4 November 2011
LIBYA
Document cache reveals Vitol’s dominance of Libyan market
Data released by the NTC government suggests that the Geneva-based trading company earned over $50m from its crude oil and refined products trades during the civil war, and even though other players are joining the market, Vitol remains a dominant force, writes John Hamilton more
NIGER
Refinery to begin operating
Production at the Chinese-built Zinder refinery in southern Niger will begin this month, and the government is seeing growing interest from explorers, according to Ousseini Assane Boureima, director of exploration at the Mines and Energy Ministry more
ZAMBIA
Zambia’s populist new president targets fuel costs
President Michael Sata has made a number of promises but looks unlikely to unsettle major investors with big policy changes, though he has bravely pledged to tackle the fuel supply conundrum, writes Chiwoyu Sinyangwe in Lusaka more
Issue 218 - 21 October 2011
NIGERIA
Big test for Jonathan as Nigerian government tries again to lift burden of subsidies
The unions don’t like it and neither do many northern politicians. But publicly, at least, a majority in government and business are behind the president’s efforts to remove subsidies on petrol, writes Leonard Lawal in Lagos more
COUNTRIES AND MARKETS
KENYA: Fuel pipeline tender
The Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) is seeking bids from consultants to oversee its project to replace the Mombasa-Nairobi fuel pipeline, which has been in operation since 1978. more
SOUTH AFRICA: Unipec tie-up for PetroSA
PetroSA has added a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sinopec subsidiary China International United Petroleum & Chemicals Company (Unipec) to its growing portfolio of international partnerships to secure South Africa’s fuel supplies. more
Issue 217 - 8 October 2011
COTE D’IVOIRE
Petro Ivoire to raise bond in Paris
Fuel distributor Petro Ivoire is seeking to raise E5m ($7m) with a bond issue on the NYSE Euronext market. The company listed a token 0.02% of its capital in Paris on 30 September, enabling it to issue the eight-year bond to fund an expansion of its business. The bond will be sold in E250 units with an interest rate of 5.5%, and be listed at the end of October. more
GABON
Technip contract for fertiliser project
Gabon Fertiliser Company (GFC) has given Technip a strategic engineering contract for a grassroots ammonia-urea fertiliser project to be developed at Port Gentil. The proposed project includes a 2,200 t/d ammonia plant and a 3,850 t/d granulated urea plant with product export facilities. more
MOZAMBIQUE
Anadarko now assuming two-train base case
Following the success of the Camarao exploration well, Anadarko now believes the Windjammer, Barquentine, Lagosta and Camarao complex holds at least 10tcf of recoverable gas and has expanded its base case development plan to a minimum of two 5m t/yr liquefaction trains (AE 215/1). more
ANGOLA
Sonangol takes 20% stake in Puma Energy
Sonangol’s investment arm Sonangol Holdings has further extended its international reach with an agreement to acquire a 20% stake in Trafigura subsidiary Puma Energy International. more
SOUTH AFRICA
GE, PetroSA sign co-operation agreement
GE Energy and PetroSA signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 26 September establishing a framework for co-operation. more
Issue 216 - 23 September 2011
KENYA
New Kenya LPG terminal promises to boost supply and cut costs
A new liquefied petroleum gas terminal at Mombasa is due to open in early 2012, promising to remove infrastructure constraints and bring down prices, writes Kimemia Mugo
Trafigura’s downstream subsidiary Puma Energy International has agreed to acquire Chevron’s fuel marketing businesses in Namibia. more
SOUTH AFRICA
Sasol GTL technology finds new markets
As crude prices rise and security concerns increase, Sasol is finding new demand for its gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology from states keen to reduce reliance on imported oil.
Anadarko takes the lead in race to East African LNG as Mozambique gas discoveries line up
The scale of gas finds offshore Mozambique and Tanzania suggests there are reserves to support two LNG plants, if Anadarko and BG can capture Asian markets in the face of competition from Australia, writes Adrian J Browne more
GHANA
Ghana to launch study into LNG imports
As it prepares for first oil from the Jubilee field, energy-hungry Ghana is considering a floating LNG unit to add imported gas to its energy mix more
LIBYA
Libya’s interim energy administration assesses likely production
As the new regime in Tripoli establishes its authority, Libya urgently needs to restart oil production. A potentially divisive mix of old and new faces is emerging to take charge of the sector, writes John Hamilton more
Market responds to NTC demands for fuel imports
Libya’s new oil sector and financial administration has agreed a number of emergency fuel supply contracts to overcome massive shortages across the country. But while lines of authority in the sector are still being drawn, there is a great deal of confusion in the market. more
Trader Vitol’s role in Libya’s revolution
Geneva-based oil trading firm Vitol’s fuel supply deal to the National Transitional Council during its six-month uprising against Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s regime has attracted admiration, criticism and envy. more
SOUTH AFRICA
Foster Wheeler contract
Engen Petroleum has given a subsidiary of Foster Wheeler’s Global Engineering and Construction a contract for engineering, procurement and construction management services for new multi-products pipeline feeder lines and infrastructure at its Enref refinery in Durban. more
Issue 214 - 29 July 2011
SUDAN
Khartoum sets fee for South Sudan pipeline use
With no deal yet in place on oil revenue-sharing between north and south Sudan, Khartoum has imposed a pipeline usage fee of $22.80/bbl on South Sudan’s exports.
Alongside its decision to recognise the National Transitional Council (NTC) as the “sole governmental authority” in Libya, the UK government has consolidated Arabian Gulf Oil Company (Agoco)’s position as a national oil corporation in waiting and motor of the rebel administration’s exchequer by agreeing to the payment of $91m of frozen assets held in London.
Representatives of striking fuel workers were meeting management as African Energy went to press to discuss a new pay offer in a bid to end a stoppage lasting more than two weeks.
Tanzania’s Fair Competition Commission (FCC) has cleared the acquisition of 50% of BP Tanzania Limited by Trafigura subsidiary Puma Energy (Tanzania) Investments Ltd.
One project from which Egypt stands to benefit significantly – the $3.7bn Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) scheme– has attracted new investors. Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) owns 24.2% of the project, which is scheduled to produce over 4m t/yr of refined products by 2015, saving an estimated $350m a year in fuel subsidies.
Government calls on IOCs to help maintain fragile peace in the Niger Delta
With oil production at a four-year high, the government is reaching out to IOCs to ensure that a temporary and fragile ceasefire can be transformed into a lasting peace, writes David Slater
Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has published details of its proposed infrastructure project to transport gas from Tullow Oil’s offshore Jubilee field to a gas processing plant at Domunli in the Western Region.
Oil issues fuel conflict as two Sudans emerge to confront multiple problems
Without genuine co-operation over oil flows, efforts to rein in militias and a concerted international effort to overcome Abyei and other crises, history may show that the January referendum and independence day celebrations were a high point for the new South Sudan and its troubled northern neighbour
Desert security fears threaten Libyan rebel plan to restart fields
The Benghazi-based Interim National Council plans to restart oil production from fields under its control by the end of August. But the cash-strapped rebels have yet to secure their southern flank against the threat posed by desert-based forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Qadhafi, writes John Hamilton
Subscriber Area
Sections
