Search results

Despite concerns over a possible change of administration in April 2011, and controversy over the impending Petroleum Industry Bill, which promises a radical shake-up of the energy sector, international oil companies continue to seek investment in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector

A well-managed, environmentally friendly rubbish dump at Nkolfoulou, just outside Yaoundé, encapsulates the huge potential and daily frustrations of project development in Cameroon. Operator Hysacam, created in Douala in 1969, collects waste – 80% of it organic – from the capital to bury in its landfill site. Polluting methane would normally build up, but Hysacam has mobilised Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) credits and other support to install an efficient biogas collection system. So far so good, say Hysacam’s no-nonsense local management, as waste disposal trucks line up patiently to be weighed and discharge.

For an industry in which the need for large-scale investments often means developments take years, if not decades, to come to fruition, things can move remarkably quickly in the world of natural gas exports.

Ghanaian independent Springfield E&P has announced a “very significant discovery” with the Afina-1x deep-water well on West Cape Three Points Block 2 in the Tano Basin. “The management of Springfield E&P, the first independent African energy company to drill in deep water, will announce the outcome of the Afina-1x discovery together with its partners, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the government of Ghana in due course,” the company said.

African oil explorers are rapidly revising budgets to take account of the latest market developments. Global oil demand is forecast to fall by 6m b/d in April as countries shut down in an attempt to control the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic. At the same time, the collapse of Opec production cuts means countries led by Saudi Arabia are increasing output to try to preserve market share. West Africa-focused Kosmos Energy said on 17 March it would reduce its planned 2020 capital expenditure by about a third, suspending the dividend and working with BP to defer Phase 1 spending on the Greater Tortue LNG project offshore Mauritania and Senegal.

ERHC Energy shareholders have approved company plans to raise up to $45m through share offers to fund its exploration programmes in Chad and Kenya

China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has awarded a $45m contract to Zhejiang Kingland Pipeline & Technologies to supply spiral and longitudinal submerged arc welded pipe for the Mnazi Bay to Dar es Salaam gas pipeline project. The government expects the pipeline to be completed in H2 2014. Mnazi Bay concession operator Wentworth Resources is negotiating a gas sales agreement with the government for a minimum of 80mcf/d, with the potential to increase it to 130mcf/d, subject to available gas resources.

Efforts to reform the energy industry will include looking again at what can be done to transform the country’s notoriously inefficient refining sector

The government of Kenya has granted a 12-month extension to the current initial exploration period of the BG-operated L10B offshore licence. Partner Pancontinental Oil & Gas said it would use the time to find a farm-in partner for any future drilling on L10B, and to assess the impact of the Sunbird-1 gas and oil discovery in the adjacent L10A area. Pancontinental said it intended to increase its stake in L10B from 15% to 20% by taking up its pro-rata share of the interest held by Premier Oil, which is withdrawing from the block.

Sharjah-based Dana Gas has announced another gas discovery in the Nile Delta with the Tulip-1 well on the West El Qantara concession.

Kosmos Energy will focus more than 90% of its 2012 capital spending in Ghana, where it plans to participate in eight new wells this year

President Ali Bongo Ondimba has inaugurated a new field in southern Gabon for Royal Dutch Shell which will increase the country’s production by 10%

Drilling contractor Ocean Rig said on 13 October it had signed a new contract with Statoil for a one-well drilling programme offshore Tanzania. The contract is expected to start in Q1 2018, to be performed by the Ocean Rig Poseidon. Statoil is operator of Block 2, where significant gas resources have been discovered.

Already suffering delays to its Côte d’Ivoire project, Azonto Petroleum has opted not to review the licence for the offshore Accra Block after failing to secure new partners. After former operator Ophir Energy pulled out in March 2014, Azonto’s subsidiary Azonto Petroleum (Ghana), in which Vitol E&P Limited has a 43% interest, and its partner Afex Oil (Ghana) secured a six-month licence extension to September 2014. They were unable to secure a farm-out, and Azonto said the partners had formally advised the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum that the contract area had been relinquished and Azonto had withdrawn as temporary operator. The Starfish commitment well in mid-2013 failed to find hydrocarbons.

Repsol plans to begin drilling the Welwitschia-1 well on its Walvis Basin licence 0010 in mid-February using the Rowan Renaissance rig. Repsol has secured the rig on a three-year contract for international work and will take delivery at end-December 2013, when the rig will move directly to Namibia. Partner Tower Resources said the Welwitschia-1 well location had been selected to evaluate primary and secondary target reservoirs in the Maastrichtian and Aptian-Albian reservoir sequences. It is expected to be drilled to a total depth of 3,000 metres.