Search results

BP and Statoil are evacuating staff from the In Salah gas plant following an attack on 18 March. The Krechba site was hit by a rocket attack from outside the site perimeter at about 6am, but no one was injured. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility. BP said it had decided to undertake a phased temporary relocation of its staff from the In Salah and In Amenas joint ventures over the next two weeks as a precautionary measure. Statoil said it would withdraw its staff from the In Salah and In Amenas plants, together with staff from its operations centre at Hassi Messaoud.

Kosmos Energy has found more gas offshore Mauritania with its Marsouin-1 exploration well in the northern part of Block C-8. Marsouin-1 encountered at least 70 metres of net gas pay in Upper and Lower Cenomanian intervals comprised of excellent quality reservoir sands. The well was drilled in nearly 2,400 metres of water, 60km north of the basin-opening Tortue-1 gas discovery, now renamed Ahmeyim. “Marsouin-1 is our second major discovery of 2015, extending our 100% success rate in the outboard Cretaceous petroleum system offshore Mauritania and Senegal.

Upstream operator Sunbird Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Eskom to study the viability of supplying gas from the Ibhubesi field to the 1,300MW Ankerlig power station. “This MoU sets the framework under which Eskom and Sunbird will jointly investigate the development of the Ibhubesi gas project for the delivery of an indigenous gas supply to the energy-constrained west coast of South Africa,” said Sunbird chairman Kerwin Rana. Eskom is keen to convert Ankerlig from diesel to natural gas, and is developing plans to convert the plant from an open cycle to a closed cycle facility.

Cape Town-based LPG retailer PayGas plans to open six new refilling stations in Cape Town’s low-income townships. The new stations had been planned for the end of May, though timelines are likely to be affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Chief executive and founder Philippe Hoeblich plans to establish PayGas across sub-Saharan Africa using digital pay-as-you-go technology to permit low-volume purchases.

The long-awaited 340MW Kpone Independent Power Project at Tema began commercial operations on 10 June. The project is owned by Cenpower Generation Company Ltd and is the first project-financed greenfield thermal plant in Ghana. Development has been challenging, taking more than a decade, and a dispute with the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor Group Five Power International meant that the plant had to be commissioned by a specially assembled technical team.

Petroceltic International’s new management – which is replacing the board that resigned following the takeover by activist shareholder Worldview Capital Management – faces an urgent task of re-establishing the company’s relationship with the Algerian authorities. The Dublin-based company’s most important asset is its stake in the Ain Tsila gas field, which is in development and expected to produce first gas in 2018.

The positive impact of improved investor sentiment towards Egypt’s upstream is now being felt in terms of planned gas production increases that will come on stream starting in 2017. Buoyed by the return of investor optimism after several years during which many of the largest developments were on hold, the authorities are planning a series of licensing rounds this year. In a further strategic advance that could open new opportunities for the development of gas reserves, the government has approved a draft gas law, which must now be voted by parliament.

GE Power Services has signed a multi-year service agreement with Songas to upgrade equipment at the 190MW Ubungo gas-fired power plant in Dar es Salaam. Under the terms of the deal, which was announced on 1 June, GE will upgrade three of the plant’s four LM6000 gas turbines from the LM6000PA to the LM6000PC, which is expected to increase unit output from 38MW to 43MW, while also enabling output levels of up to 46MW.

Victoria Oil & Gas (VOG) operating subsidiary Gaz du Cameroun (GDC) has announced agreements with power utility AES-Sonel and with cement manufacturer Dangote, as well as an initial cash-call payment from RSM Production Corporation. GDC and AES-Sonel have agreed to work on a technical and operating plan to progressively replace fuel oil with gas in power generation stations. The plan is for GDC initially to supply temporary units with gas, with a combined capacity of 45MW. This first stage is expected to be on line during Q2 2014, with anticipated gas consumption in the range of 2.6-5.9mcf/d.

With Morocco embroiled in new controversies over the disputed Western Sahara and strongly aligned with Gulf states in Yemen and other conflicts, geopolitics was high on the agenda when King Mohammed VI visited Moscow in March. The visit was also notable for reports that the monarch had suggested Russian companies – almost certainly led by Gazprom – could be favoured in building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification terminal at Jorf Lasfar, and other infrastructure that comprises Morocco’s integrated gas-to-power (GTP) plan.

After more than a decade when Sonatrach senior management was cowed by allegations of severe corruption and fled from confrontation with commercial realities, the giant corporation is now rapidly implementing a new vision. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, now in the 20th year of his presidency, has not yet announced formally whether he will contest the election scheduled to take place in April. Following a severe stroke in 2013, the 81-year-old has been seen in public only a handful of times since his re-election in 2014, always either seated or in a wheelchair.

The start of production from Repsol’s Reggane North gas field from January 2018 confirms that the long-awaited contribution of production from Algeria’s south-western gas fields is now a reality. On 18 December, the Spanish company confirmed that the fields would produce at full capacity of 8mcm/d from the start of next year.

Dana Petroleum has signed concession agreements for the West Dakhla 1 and 2 areas in the Western Desert. The company said the blocks were awarded through the Ganoub El-Wadi Petroleum Holding Company’s 2010 licensing round. Activities in the initial exploration phase of three years include an aeromagnetic survey and 500km of 2D seismic. “These two concessions in the Western Desert are a welcome addition to the exploration portfolio. This, along with the award of the South Wadi Dara Block in the Gulf of Suez we announced at the end of 2013, will help us build our exploration activities in Egypt,” said Egypt managing director Paul Barnett.

Société Tunisienne de l’Electricité et du Gaz (Steg) and Italy’s Ansaldo Energia on 17 July launched the construction of the 625MW Mornaguia open-cycle gas turbine power plant south-west of Tunis. The construction contract was signed by the two companies in April.

As Ophir Energy weighs options for development of its Block R gas, the company has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Petrofac to act as development operator up to the final investment decision. This role is expected to include preparing and issuing a field development plan for the project, and co-ordinating the upstream and midstream elements. Ophir has also held discussions with a number of floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel providers. The company said it had received several proposals, a number of which have been shortlisted for further assessment with non-binding letters of intent signed on 20 February in Singapore.