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President Umara Musa Yar’Adua wants a stronger national industry – as he noted, opening CWC Associates’ Nigeria Oil & Gas Conference 2008 in Abuja on 19 February, “the provision of petroleum projects is dependent on expertise from other countries.”

Plans are moving ahead for the most radical overhaul of Nigeria’s hydrocarbons industry in 40 years, according to the draft report seen by Our Gulf of Guinea Correspondent. Also in African Energy, Eleanor Gillespie in Abuja and Leonard Lawal in Lagos report on joint ventures and other aspects of the reform promised across the industry, which may not be to the taste of many IOCs but fulfill a need for real change in Nigeria.

Agreeing to a higher price for gas sold by IOCs to the government should improve production capacity as companies are encouraged to invest, but it will also increase Egypt’s spiralling subsidy bill, writes Nadine Marroushi.

Sasol, iGas and Compania Mozambicana de Gasoduto are building a gas compression station to facilitate a 20% expansion of natural gas delivery from Mozambique to South Africa by the end of 2009.

IOCs are keen to book reserves so more export LNG capacity can be built, but Egypt and other governments are increasingly concerned to add value by using gas at home.

Winfield Resources has approached the government with a proposal to build, own and operate a 30,000 b/d refinery in Nouakchott. The Vancouver-based petroleum company said the government had invited it to make detailed proposals, and it had engaged Surrey-based KBC Process Technology to provide consulting services and technical support.

India’s Essar Energy Overseas has agreed to buy a 50% stake in Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL) from Shell Petroleum, Chevron Global and BP Africa. The government holds the other 50% equity in the 4m t/yr Mombasa refinery. The shareholders had been looking to sell up because they were reluctant to finance a planned upgrade.

With the first attempt at privatisation ending in disarray and the Bureau for Private Enterprises facing reorganisation, prospects look bleak for the divestment of Nigeria’s oil refineries, seen as essential to end chronic fuel shortages. On the plus side, a number of new projects are on the table, and although by no means all will see the light of day a few are making real progress, writes Leonard Lawal in Lagos.

Following on from the state Council for Oil and Gas Affairs’ decision to back a plan by the United Arab Emirates-based Star Consortium to upgrade and revamp Libya’s largest oil refinery, another project has emerged at Ras Lanuf, promoted by Canada’s Winfield Resources Ltd. Star Consortium, formed by TransAsia Gas International and Star Petro Energy, has committed to investing $2bn over a five-year period in a joint venture with the state National Oil Corporation (NOC). Its initial focus will be on refurbishing the Ras Lanuf export refinery, whose design capacity is approximately 220,000 b/d (AE 130/16).

Plans for an integrated LNG regasification terminal project in Morocco remain far from implementation, despite reports that a site has been identified and the project could go ahead soon

Lundin Oil chairman Adolf Lundin has said he would welcome a formal inquiry by the Swedish government into his company’s operations in Sudan following a critical new report by Christian Aid reviving the controversy over the role of foreign oil companies in funding the government’s war against southern rebels.