Search results

The Petroleum Ministry is driving forward a broad agenda of energy sector market reforms in an attempt to respond to the economic storm created by the Covid-19 pandemic. A large part of the strategy hinges on the ability of the government to restructure the domestic market in ways which maintain political and social equilibrium. The result has been a series of ambitious announcements covering multiple areas, with major private sector and industry players offering loyal support.

The government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with China Tianchen Engineering Corporation for a new 120,000 b/d refinery at Tema.

A proposed new loan in the works for the NNPC group could provide a lifeline for international lenders and risk insurers exposed to the company’s fuel importing arm, writes Kevin Godier

The government is pressing ahead with a production-sharing agreement in Virunga National Park, North Kivu, despite repeated warnings from Unesco and environmentalists.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) board on 26 November approved a long-term senior loan of $400m to support the Total-led Mozambique LNG project, which will monetise gas from Offshore Area 1. The AfDB said it was joining a global syndicate of commercial banks, development finance institutions and export credit agencies in providing debt financing for the project, which will have a production capacity of 12.88m t/yr.

The extent to which the financial crisis that has engulfed Société Marocaine d’Industrie de Raffinage (Samir) can be resolved with the refiner returning to full production and trading on the Bourse de Casablanca under its existing ownership structure will become clearer after an 8 September board meeting. This is expected to call an extraordinary general meeting for 12 October, which will approve a capital increase provided Samir’s ultimate majority owner, Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi, is able – and willing – to mobilise the necessary funds.

The lightning takeover of export terminals by Libyan National Army (LNA) forces under the command of General Khalifa Haftar has thrown Libya’s struggling political process into a state of confusion from which it is unlikely to recover. Intended as a move to destabilise the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) and its Presidency Council (PC), it may well lead to their collapse. If so, this would also fatally undermine the policy pursued for the past 18 months by western European governments and the United States via the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (Unsmil).

The Ugandan government has selected a consortium led by Russia’s RT Global Resources as preferred bidder for construction of a planned refinery at Hoima to process oil from the Lake Albert region. A consortium led by South Korea’s SK Engineering and Construction, the only other group to reach the final stages of the tender, was selected as alternative preferred bidder. A Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development statement said negotiations with the winning consortium would begin in March and were scheduled to last 60 days.

Despite being written off by some commentators, who have questioned its commerciality, the planned Galsi pipeline, to take gas from eastern Algeria via Sardinia to central Italy, is going ahead after several long delays.

For the past several months, Egypt’s domestic gas deficit has effectively been made up by five cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplied for free by Qatargas. These cargoes were paid for by the Qatari state and delivered to offtaker clients of the Idku LNG export terminal, enabling the authorities to keep more production for the domestic market. On 10 September, Qatargas confirmed to African Energy that no negotiations were under way for the delivery of further cargoes. Although it was embarrassed by the military’s removal of Mohammed Morsi, Qatar honoured the promise made in June to the Muslim Brotherhood administration to supply it with free gas over the summer. It delivered two cargoes to BG Group in August, which sent them to customers in Asia. These quantities replaced production that had been diverted from Idku to meet shortfalls in the domestic market. BG’s partner in Idku, GDF Suez, is understood to have redirected two cargoes to clients in Europe and is due a third.

There is intense speculation that further change will follow at Sonatrach, with former pipelines vice president (VP) Abdelhamid Zerguine – who now heads the Algerian state energy

Prominent among the companies beating a path to the Libyan rebels’ door is Tony Buckingham’s Heritage Oil Corporation, which has a history of linking politics

Bermuda-registered East Africa player Dominion Petroleum has taken a 60% operating stake in offshore

Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) has invited expressions of interest (EoIs) from consultants to carry out a feasibility study for construction of a gas pipeline from Dar es Salaam to Uganda via Tanga, Mwanza and Kagera. The contract is expected to cover a market survey along the proposed pipeline route to establish current and future natural gas demand by identifying potential customers.

Angola’s oil parastatal has raised a $1bn ten-year loan facility backed by South Korea, marking an unprecedented tenor for one of the most regular African users of international syndicated loan markets, writes Kevin Godier