King of Spain to open 19th World Petroleum Congress
King Juan Carlos I will officially inaugurate the 19th World Petroleum Congress in Madrid on 30 June. Held under the theme: A World in Transition: Delivering Energy for Sustainable Growth, the Congress will bring together key players from the oil and gas industry worldwide.
Confirmed keynote speakers include Qatar Deputy Prime Minister and Energy & Industry Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Saudi Arabia Petroleum and Mineral Resources Minister Ali Al-Naimi, OPEC Secretary General Abdalla Salem El-Badri and International Energy Agency Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka. They will join nearly 600 speakers, including over 100 CEOs, to deliver presentations on the latest research and developments in the oil and gas industry, addressing future options of fuel supply and delivery, as well as its impact on people and environment. Email: info@19wpc.com Web: www.19wpc.com
ETHIOPIA: Tender for open blocks
The Ministry of Mines and Energy has invited bids by 15 July for open exploration blocks in the Ogaden Basin and the Abay Basin (AE 136/11). One contract is for Blocks 1, 5, 10 and 14 in the Ogaden Basin in south-east Ethiopia, adjacent to blocks held by Lundin Petroleum, Petronas and SouthWest Energy, the second is for Blocks 2, 3, 5 and 6 in the Abay Basin in the centre of the country. Contact: Ministry of Mines and Energy. Tel: +251 11 646 12 09. Fax: +251 646 34 39, 251 11 646 33 64. Email: kadesse22@yahoo.com
Issue 142 • 4 July, 2008
Mali sees brisk interest despite Baraka woes
Baraka Petroleum has been forced to pull out of its Mali blocks because of funding difficulties, but the country whose potential it pioneered is now seeing brisk licensing interest from a wide range of players, writes Rosie Collyer. more
GHANA
Kosmos Energy scores rig funding
Kosmos Energy has signed agreements with Atwood Oceanics and Noble Energy to use the moored semi-submersible rig Atwood Hunter for its deep-water drilling programme offshore West Africa. more
ANGOLA
Gas programme makes progress
Chevron subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (Cabgoc) has installed the Takula gas processing platform (TGPP) on Block 0 offshore Cabinda. more
NAMIBIA
New shareholder on Block 2815
Vancouver-based Universal Power Corporation has entered into a letter of intent to acquire a 30% carried interest in offshore block 2815, which lies immediately to the east of the Kudu gas field, for $1.5m. more
TUNISIA
ETAP goes global
Entreprise Tunisienne d’Activités Pétrolières (ETAP) plans to set up an international subsidiary based outside Tunisia. more
Africa Oil Exploration seeks opportunities-
UK-based Africa Oil Exploration Plc (AOC), which listed on London’s PLUS market in January 2008, raising £1.03m, recently bought a 9.68% stake in London-based Wilton Petroleum. more
ALGERIA
Khelil clarifies on bid round
Algiers will offer blocks in the forthcoming bid round “that already have discoveries”, Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil told delegates to the World Petroleum Congress on 1 July. more
LIBYA
Petro-Canada in $7bn investment
Petro-Canada has signed six new exploration and production sharing agreements (EPSAs) with National Oil Corporation (NOC). more
Petroceltic in strategic alliance with Iberdrola
In the latest sign of power companies’ eagerness to secure energy supplies, Ireland’s Petroceltic International has announced a strategic alliance with Iberdrola, with a $55m investment from the Spanish energy company. more
EGYPT
New oil find for Dana Gas
The UAE’s Dana Gas has announced a discovery from a new oil zone in its Komombo concession, marking the first discovery in the company's $170m drilling campaign for 2008. more
UGANDA
More drilling success
Tullow Oil has found oil and gas in a new play fairway with the Ngege-1 exploration well, the second exploration well in the Butiaba region of Blocks 1 and 2. more
To much fanfare, Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua has announced plans to hand over Royal Dutch Shell’s interests in Ogoniland to Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and bring them back into production. more
Equatorial Guinea gets tough in battle to maximise advantage before reserves run out
In publicly attacking its biggest oil producer and main gas buyer Gabriel Nguema Lima has given voice to concerns that pioneering contracts to develop the industry were too favourable to IOCs, but also that Malabo must do everything possible to maximise its returns as reserves dwindle, writes Jon Marks. more
Pressure grows on resources producers to export and supply fast-growing local markets
Data published in the latest BP Statistical Review of World Energy, and rendered into graphic form by African Energy’s David Burles, show how oil, gas and coal production is being increased by the continent’s major resources producers, but also how demand for these inputs is rising from increased domestic consumption as African economies grow. more
LIBYA: Eni converts six EPSA contracts as renegotiations continue
National Oil Corporation has renewed Eni’s six exploration and production-sharing contracts for 25 years from January 2008. The new expiry dates set by the agreement are 2042 for production of oil and 2047 for gas. Eni, Libya’s main foreign operator, said it had signed six EPSA-4 contracts with NOC converting its original agreements to the new standard format. It said the contracts established the terms for future co-operation between the two companies on the basis of a strategic agreement signed last October. more
WESTERN SAHARA (DISPUTED TERRITORY): Tower’s Comet buy out
AIM-listed Tower Resources has bought out Comet Petroleum, a related company which owns 50% of two exploration licences in the disputed Western Sahara (AE 97/19). The Guelta and Bojador licences were awarded in March 2006, following a licensing round organised by the Polisario Front liberation movement’s government-in-exile the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR). more
Mittal becomes Ophir’s biggest shareholder
Eager to secure new sources of oil, Lakshmi Mittal has taken over from Tokyo Sexwale as Ophir Energy’s biggest shareholder as the company embarks on an ambitious exploration programme.
Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal has taken a 21.2% stake in Ophir Energy following a capital raising worth £168m ($331m) to fund the upstream player’s exploration plans; in the process, Mittal has overtaken the company’s strategic partner, South African black economic empowerment firm Mvelaphanda Holdings, as its biggest investor. more
NIGER: Rebels protest CNPC deal
Tuareg and Toubou rebels have denounced an agreement with a Chinese company to explore the Agadem block in eastern Niger and build a refinery and pipeline, and warned of reprisals if development goes ahead. more
GHANA: Mahogany appraisal results
Jubilee field operator Tullow Oil has announced another success with the Mahogany-2 appraisal well on the West Cape Three Points licence, which flowed at a test rate of 5,200 b/d of 36-degree API gravity oil and 5.3m ft3/d of associated gas. The well was drilled to a total depth of 3,443 metres by the Songa Saturn drillship in water depths of 1,080 metres. more
NIGERIA/REGION: Okoro Setu production starts as Afren unveils more work
Afren and its partner Amni International Petroleum Development Company have announced the start of production from the Okoro Setu project in OML 112. Initial production from the first of two wells drilled to date has commenced at a rate of more than 3,000 b/d of 27º API gravity oil. more
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Noble, minister upbeat on Benita
Noble Energy has announced flow test results from the Benita oil appraisal well in Block I (AE 137/16). The I-5 well encountered 13 metres of net oil pay from a high-quality Miocene reservoir and yielded flow rates of 6,250 b/d of oil and 5.4m ft3/d of natural gas. Noble said it expected each development well would be able to produce 10,000 b/d. more
GABON: Government plans 2009 round
After several years without a formal offering, the Mines and Energy Ministry plans to organise a licensing round next year for offshore deep water areas. more
Sections
