Search results

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.

‘Accelerated commissioning’ has allowed Golar LNG to announce a definitive 2025 commissioning date at the BP/Kosmos’ Greater Tortue Ahmeyim gas project. But the floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) developer has cautioned that it expects more delays at its Nigeria project.

Commissioning of a fourth unit at the 2.1GW Julius Nyerere hydroelectric power plant has prompted the Tanzanian government to move away from gas-to-power capacity. The immediate consequence is that a power purchase agreement for Songas, the country’s first IPP, will not be renewed. Meanwhile, two foreign investors have launched arbitral claims of $500m and $1.2bn against the government, and progress remains static at the much-vaunted Tanzania LNG megaproject, writes Marc Howard.

Tanzania’s most important gas project – and its largest-ever foreign investment – is the $42bn, 15m t/yr Lindi liquefied natural gas (LNG) development, also known as Tanzania LNG (TLNG).  A long-awaited deadline to conclude a host government agreement (HGA) was missed in February but in early November there were reports of progress.

Pretoria needs to find quick solutions to obviate a gas crisis before 2026. Large gas users say that apart from active engagements and some preliminary proposals, no practical and implementable strategies have so far been offered, muddling the future of the gas industry. Complementing public and private sector measures is seen as key to addressing the problem, writes Tonderayi Mukeredzi.

The ruling Frente de Libertação de Moçambique (Frelimo) party and its candidate, Daniel Chapo, have been officially declared the landslide winners of Mozambique’s presidential and legislative polls by the Comissão Nacional de Eleições (CNE – National Elections Commission), after hotly contested and violent elections were held on 9 October. An already discredited electoral process was further undermined by the assassination of two opposition figures prior to the results being declared by the CNE. A volatile situation is adding to investor jitters that could make financing Mozambique’s long-stalled plans to become a significant LNG exporter much more difficult, while more political turbulence beckons.

A precipitous decline in gas output may turn out to be a bigger problem than the recent month-long blockade of oil exports. There is no quick fix for the shortage of feedstock for General Electric Company of Libya (Gecol)’s fleet of power plants, which now depend on record levels of imported diesel the country cannot afford. There is also no other source of generation to fall back on, with Libya now Africa’s only country without any utility-scale, grid-connected renewable capacity, writes John Hamilton.

Khadim Bâ, a central figure in Senegal’s power and energy sectors for many years, has been arrested following allegations by Senegalese Customs over unpaid oil import duties, writes Waly Dione Faye in Dakar.

Swiss multinational Oryx Energies plans an increased presence in Kenya’s fuel markets, diversifying its traditional role as a bulk supplier. It follows a similar move by the company in Uganda.

Dakar’s plans to meet its refined product needs from domestic feedstock could see an 80,000 b/d greenfield refinery being built. If it goes ahead, it would ease pressure on the country’s only existing refinery, SAR’s 30,000 b/d Mbao plant, which was itself recently upgraded.

A sharp surge in forecourt prices has not been stemmed by the start of local gasoline sales from Dangote’s 650,000 b/d facility. This has caused a lingering dispute between Dangote and NNPC to burst in to the open, offering a glimpse of the fierce rivalry between the billionaire magnate and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Nigerian government needs an urgent boost after essential macroeconomic reform measures sparked huge public opposition. By placing President Bola Tinubu at the centre of plans to revive long stalled projects, Abuja can point to the potential for a better economic performance ahead – at least in the longer term – while opponents test the administration’s resilience with the threat of more short-term disorder.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is back in Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC)’s sightlines, after the state giant in early September greenlit development of the country’s first floating LNG (FLNG) plant, after a lengthy delay.  NNPC has also announced that it has held talks with investors to revive the long-delayed Brass Liquefied Natural Gas and Olokola Liquefied Natural Gas (OK LNG) projects.

The contract award – along with a second, concurrent Feed deal awarded to another player – paves the way for progress at the onshore LNG megaproject, with a final investment decision now pencilled in for 2026. It has been confirmed that the project will proceed on a modular basis, with the liquefaction process powered by electricity, implying a significant power generation requirement.   There are signs that work will also formally resume on the nearby, 15.2m t/yr TotalEnergies-operated Mozambique LNG (MLNG) project later this year.

Crude oil cargoes worth some $400m have been exported from Libya by an obscure private company, in the latest sign of a breakdown of authority in the country. Blockades and force majeure stoppages at other oil facilities, along with the exile of a controversial central bank governor, threaten to plunge the country into an existential crisis. It comes as the compromises which have helped to contain civil conflicts since the fall of the Qadhafi regime look ever harder to sustain, writes John Hamilton