Search results

Heritage Oil has entered into a letter of intent with Eni for the sale of its 50% interests in Uganda blocks 1 and 3A, and at the same time terminated merger talks with Turkey’s Genel Energy. The amount comprises cash of $1.35bn and a deferred consideration of $150m in cash or an interest in a mutually agreed producing field.

UK private company Surestream Petroleum has just been awarded Burundi Block B, on the north-east side of Lake Tanganyika, in addition to Block D which it already holds. Surestream, which sponsors the Burundi national football team, was founded in

Petroleum Agency of South Africa (Pasa) has announced two awards following a licensing round earlier this year.

Gazprom has announced a start date for work on the long-awaited Kudu gas-to-power project, and NamPower has raised more funds in the domestic market, boosting confidence in Namibia’s ability to meet domestic demand and play a significant role in the regional industry, write Thalia Griffiths in Cape Town and Kevin Godier

Gabon is hoping to tap its pre-salt potential with its tenth licensing round due to open on 4 May offering 42 deepwater blocks (AE 162/1). The round has been expected for some time but has been delayed by political developments.

Norway’s Spectrum has signed an agreement with the state Office des Mines Nationales et des Industries Stratégiques (Omnis) to reprocess 6,000 line km of seismic data. The surveys include data offshore the west, south, and east coasts, and are located over the Morondava and Majunga basins, Cap Sainte-Marie and Ile Sainte-Marie.

The state’s Instituto Nacional de Petróleo (INP) has launched a fourth licensing round, offering seven onshore areas.

The Orca and Tweneboa results will be highly significant for Ivorian Lebanese architect Pierre Fakhoury, who has just acquired 3D seismic on his highly prospective deepwater Block CI-100, which lies immediately south of CI-401 adjacent to Côte d’Ivoire’s border with Ghana. He will need a farm-in partner to finance a well but is dragging his feet, reluctant to surrender his independence. Fakhoury designed the huge basilica in the political capital of Yamoussoukro for Côte d’Ivoire’s late president Félix Houphouët-Boigny, and was more recently awarded a series of infrastructure contracts for the expansion of Abidjan port and for new government buildings in Yamoussoukro.

Sterling Energy has sold its producing US assets for $90m, enabling it to clear its debt. The UK-based company plans to focus on higher impact opportunities in Africa and the Middle East,

Mogadishu-based Transitional Federal Government (TFG) prime minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke has said that all contracts, including energy contracts, signed by the semi-autonomous Republic of Puntland,

Fast-growing local player Oando has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Russia’s Gazprom to collaborate in the development of oil and gas assets and infrastructure in the West African region and the Gulf of Guinea.

Sonatrach has shortlisted four companies – Technip, Sinopec, CB&I Lummus and Saipem with Chiyoda Corporation – for the front-end engineering design (FEED) study on its long-awaited Tiaret refinery, now planned to produce 15m t/yr of products. In a 19 October tender opening overseen by Sonatrach director-general Mohammed Meziane, the names of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) bidders to revamp the Algiers refinery were also announced, representing progress in downstream vice president Abdelhafid Feghouli’s long-awaited plans to raise domestic refining capacity.

Despite international condemnation of the killing of scores of unarmed protesters, Guinea has attracted a credible offshore farm-in partner in Dana Petroleum, write Thalia Griffiths and our Conakry correspondent. But can IOCs overlook the country’s governance record, or will China’s promised infrastructure package win the day?

Petroceltic reports higher flows from Isarene well; Successful Al-Amir appraisal; More time for Verenex/LIA talks; AuDAX signs Chorbane LoI with DNO International

Construction of a parallel pipeline to increase capacity on the products line running from Nairobi to the Ugandan border is finally due to go ahead, as confidence grows in KPC’s new management, writes Kimemia Mugo