Search results

The latest financial results from international oil companies revealed that 2024 was a tough year for many of them, not least because of reduced refining margins. Many of the pressures are likely to continue in 2025, although there is plenty of exploration activity to keep most of them busy, writes James Gavin.

Sasol, De Beers and Anglo American will trial the use of tobacco plants and drumstick tree to produce vegetable oil that can then be turned into renewable diesel at a number of sites around South Africa.

Suhail Bahwan Group and its fertiliser venture have experienced a bumpy ride in Algeria over the past two decades, but recent talks in Algiers suggest the Omani group could be ready to agree further investment in the Arzew plant and other big projects.

There has been progress at two key liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in central Africa in the opening weeks of the year, with advances underway in both Gabon and Republic of Congo (RoC).

For Bola Tinubu, as for previous Nigerian presidents, one measure of success at overcoming the graft and mismanagement that have undermined the economy for decades will be his ability to halt systemic oil theft in the Niger Delta. Tinubu’s administration and military chiefs are setting drones and other technology to work, but whether they can overcome the usual vested interests to harness desperately needed higher revenue flows and investment remains to be seen.

With Sudan’s civil war impeding Juba’s oil exports – and vital hard currency revenues – the idea of developing a new oil pipeline from South Sudan to Kenya’s Indian Ocean coast is again drawing attention. Such a link would reduce Juba’s dependence on its northern neighbour, but the funding challenges that have stymied similar proposals in the past will be hard to overcome.

Operator Kosmos Energy and the state-owned Petrosen are courting potential partners for the offshore Y-T play, long earmarked to provide feedstock for Senegal’s new gas-to-power capacity and also now expected to produce LNG for export. The development concept is being honed and Petrosen is bullish that Y-T’s reserves will exceed expectations, writes Waly Dione Faye in Dakar.

Production at the Woodside-operated Sangomar offshore oil play has been much higher than expected in the first six months of operations, providing a welcome boost to Senegal’s balance of payments, writes Waly Dione Faye in Dakar.

Officials in Dakar have welcomed the imminent and long-awaited start of LNG production at the BP-operated Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project. Concerns at cost overruns and debts accumulated during the previous Sall regime have given greater impetus for further GTA development, writes Waly Dione Faye in Dakar.

A long-awaited tender to install the midstream network that will carry gas from Senegal’s offshore fields to power plants and industrial offtakers is expected to be launched soon.

The restart of crude deliveries via the Petrodar pipeline in January was an important moment for South Sudan’s embattled economy and a sign of improved relations between Juba and the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) based in Port Sudan. However, the trade continues to be at risk from Sudan’s civil war, as are the SAF’s hopes of attracting Russian companies to invest in its upstream sector, writes James Gavin.

The 125,000 b/d Warri refinery in Delta State is once again processing crude oil, following a 26-month rehabilitation project carried out by South Korea’s Daewoo Engineering & Contracting. It comes a month after the restart of the 60,000 b/d Port Harcourt refinery in Rivers State.

A seventh loading of oil from the Niger-Benin Export Pipeline (NBEP) since exports resumed in August points to a slight thaw in tensions between Cotonou and Niamey, which have resumed a more normal pattern of diplomatic relations even though the border remains closed, writes Virgile Ahissou in Cotonou with Marc Howard.

London AIM-listed Savannah Energy is aiming to complete construction work on the Uquo central processing facility project in Nigeria by year-end. Commissioning is to follow in Q1 2025 around the same time as it is due to secure full control of the Stubb Creek field. The positive developments in Nigeria are in contrast to the ongoing legal cases it is pursuing in Chad and Cameroon and a complex situation in South Sudan – but these issues could all be resolved by mid-2025.

Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s old Port Harcourt refinery is once again producing petrol, diesel and other products, as the veteran facility’s long-awaited rehabilitation process nears completion. Work continues on NNPC’s three other refineries, while the rival Dangote refinery continues to ramp up its operations.