Zambia Makes Block Awards

The Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development of Zambia, Yamfwa Mukanga, confirmed the award of blocks that the government put up for auction earlier this year.

The block awards went to Troisad with Block 8; blocks 25, 28, and 29 went to Bowleven; Segocoa was awarded stakes in blocks 29 and 43, Rift Petroleum scored blocks 40 and 41; while Surestream picked up Block 42.

Swala Energy, who bid on blocks 31, 42, and 44, was not awarded a stake in any of the three; however, it still has hopes of gaining access to Blocks 31 and 44.

Dr. David Mestres Ridge (CEO) of Swala said, “The bidding process has been a long and competitive one, and our Zambia team has worked tirelessly to advance the company’s interests. We are obviously disappointed not to have been awarded Block 42 in Zambia but look forward to a more positive outcome with the remaining bids for Blocks 31 and 44.”

TANZANIA: Statoil and ExxonMobil Hit the Gas

Partners on Tanzania’s offshore Block 2, Statoil and ExxonMobil, have made a new natural gas discovery with the drilling of their latest well. The well, the Mronge-1, gave the partners an additional 2-3 Tcf of gas in place and marks the partners’ fifth discovery on the block.

The Mronge-1 well discovered gas at two separate levels. The main accumulation is at the same stratigraphic level as proven in the Zafarani-1 well in Block 2. The Zafarani-1 discovery was made in 2012 and was a play opener for the block. The secondary accumulation was encountered in a separate, younger gas-bearing reservoir, in a play which previously has not been tested in Block 2.

Mronge-1 was drilled at 2,500 meter water depth using the drillship Discoverer Americas and is located 20 km north of the Zafarani discovery

East Africa: South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPetro) Makes Bold Move

Nigerian-based South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPetro) has boldly placed its bid alongside the majors to be the first to discover oil offshore East Africa, from its assets offshore Madagascar and the French territory of Juan de Nova, acquired from Roc Oil in 2011. SAPetro is acquiring a large, 9,000km2 3D seismic survey in four areas to examine prospects identified by earlier 2D seismic. The PGS Ramform Sterling vessel is carrying out the survey, which is expected to complete early next year.

Oil blockades threaten Libya’s financial security

At the end of November, prime minister Ali Zeidan warned that the government will need to borrow on the international markets to pay salaries. A blockade of most of Libya’s oil export terminals means that since July, revenues have at most been half of expected levels and production has frequently fallen below one-tenth of total capacity. According to one estimate presented to African Energy, the entire 2013 budget of about $60bn has already been spent, plus a further $20bn which remained unspent from 2012. Several sources have suggested that inroads may have been made into the Central Bank of Libya’s foreign currency reserves, although the official position is that they are untouched.

To Increase Reserves, Majors Meet Minors in Africa's Deep Waters

The need to maintain supplies of oil and gas in the face of growing competition from new players, and pressure to generate profits during a period when downstream margins are lackluster, has led to an upsurge in activity by the majors in frontier areas like Benin, South Africa, Kenya and Madagascar, which were previously seen as the territory of more nimble independents. Total’s secretary general Africa Abiodun Afolabi told Global Pacific & Partners’ Africa Upstream conference in Cape Town on 27 November that the French major planned exploration drilling in five countries in 2014.

Tanzania Lays Down New Gas Policy

Tanzania’s  newly approved Natural Gas Policy makes clear that the government prioritizes domestic supply of Natural Gas over LNG exports, which have been the focus of much media attention.

As gas discovery after spectacular gas discovery has been made offshore Tanzania in the last three years, global attention has focused on news that this was going to be a new export hub. Their Indian Ocean location supposedly makes the Tanzanian and Mozambican gas resources highly competitive for the Asian gas market. The Tanzanian Government itself claims that the country has about 43 Trillion Cubic Feet of Gas Reserves.

In the new policy, however, the Tanzanian Government “envisages coordinated utilization of gas on the basis of a National Gas Utilization Master Plan, and that to the extent possible, detailed technical and economic analysis should guide selection of the best project for implementation that will address mutual interest of investors and the Nation. The Government, through its entities, intends to participate in the selected investment projects including GTL and LNG value chain”.

Nigeria Opens Margainal FIeld Bids, Issues Guidelines

The second Nigerian Marginal Field Bid Round throws up 31 oil and gas fields, 15 of which are in shallow water, (and 16 onshore), all in the Niger Delta basin. The round is open only to Nigerian Exploration and Production Companies. Guidelines for Farm Out and Operations of Marginal Fields 2013, published on the DPR website declares that “The indigenous company shall be substantially Nigerian and shall be registered solely for exploration and production business.  At the pre-qualification stage, attention shall be paid to the following regarding the promoting team:

• Background and experience with exploration and production at sufficiently high level.
• Niger Delta representation.
• Federal Character representativeness.

The application form (for bidding) shall attract non-refundable chargeable fees as follows:

• Application fee: =N=200,000.00 (Two Hundred Thousand Naira) per field.
• Data prying fee: $3,000.00 (Three Thousand US Dollars) per field. Data prying shall be on appointment.
• Bid Processing Fee: Naira) =N=300,000.00 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira) per field.

Part of the criteria for evaluation is that a company shall confirm willingness to pay a Signature Bonus of $300,000 (Three Hundred Thousand US Dollars) if successful. Such monies will be paid into the CBN/Accountant –General FGN Account by Telegraphic Transfer.

The Nigerian government’s definition of a marginal field “is any field that has (oil and gas) reserves booked and reported annually to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and has remained un-produced for a period of over 10 years.

Algeria: ConocoPhillip finally Exits Algeria

ConocoPhillips is now officially out of Algeria. The company completed the sale of its Algerian business unit to Pertamina. The sale price on the transaction was $1.75 billion, which resulted in proceeds of $1.65 billion, including customary adjustments.

“We are pleased to complete this transaction with Pertamina,” said Don Wallette, executive VP, Commercial, Business Development and Corporate Planning. “We appreciate the long and productive relationship we have had with the government of Algeria and with Sonatrach, the national oil company of Algeria.”

The company’s divestiture proceeds from 2012 through Q3 2013, plus this sale and the recently completed Kashagan sale, have totaled approx. $12.4 billion. These proceeds will be available for general corporate purposes, including investments in the company’s organic growth programs.

Total Plans South African Spud

Total will drill an exploration well offshore South Africa in 2014 according to its general secretary for Africa, Abiodun Afolabi. The company acquired a 50% stake in the 19,000 sq km Block 11B/12B from CNR in September of this year. The block is located in the Outeniqua Basin off the southern coast of South Africa.

“Total becomes the operator of the block…where we will drill next year our first exploration well,”  Afolabi said while speaking at Global Pacific & Partners’ 20th African Oil Week being held in Cape Town.

Afolabi said that South African authorities had also granted permission to convert a technical cooperation permit on another block, Outeniqua South, where the company anticipates shooting 7,000 km of 2D seismic data.

The French firm is targeting three million barrels of oil a day by 2017, with deep-water production in Africa being one of its key drivers. “We expect to see an increasing proportion of the operated production in Africa coming from the deep offshore, (which) has risen steadily from 34% in 2006 to 72% in 2012,” Afolabi said.

Africa's Oil Consumption On Rise

Africa is the region with highest increase in oil consumption globally – 5% in 2012 versus only a 1% increase Globally

CAPE-TOWN, South-Africa, November 25, 2013/ – The recent oil and gas finds in Africa will continue to have a positive impact on local economies, if local African suppliers, service providers and other businesses are geared up to service this growth.

This is according to Steve Harley, President of the Energy Sector, for DHL Customer Solutions & Innovations (http://www.dhl.com). Harley says that these energy finds provide many possibilities for local businesses, to echo the express operator’s own marked increase in the transportation of energy-related material in the region.

Harley says that forecasts expect African oil supply growth to continue over the next 25 years, with predicted ranges of growth over the period of between 0.5 million and 2.0 million barrels per day. “Africa will need to adapt in order to keep up with the demand, as well as evolving trends in this highly competitive sector.”

He says that globally, the steady and reliable supply of energy is critical to economic activity, and due to Africa’s availability of the resource, it is expected that the continent will see continued and steady economic growth.

“We have also witnessed an increased demand for the resource on the continent, and currently Africa is the region with highest increase in oil consumption globally – 5% in 2012 versus only a 1% increase globally. This is likely to continue as many of the fastest growing economies are situated on the continent.”

Harley does warn though that, as the easily obtainable oil reserves have been has depleted, that most of the new developments are either very remote or technically challenging, which brings issues of infrastructure, transportation and expertise to the fore.

“Forecasts predict that conventional oil production will decline by five percent per year. Extraction from unconventional sources is more complex and relatively more expensive from a supply chain perspective. As such, customers will need complementary expertise from integrated logistics suppliers to meet the challenges of these new geographies and technologies.”

Harley points to DHL’s recent global white paper on Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) supply chain management for energy companies (http://www.dhl.com/energywhitepaper), which shows the oil and gas businesses will require integrated suppliers that are able to support them with end-to-end supply chain solutions. According to the white paper, logistics suppliers need to provide a global footprint in combination with local market expertise. As a trustworthy partner, they also need to drive cost and process optimization and maintain safety and compliance both on and off-site.”

“This is particularly true in Africa,” notes Charles Brewer, Managing Director for DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa. “While the continent is showing promise, issues around infrastructure, regulatory hurdles, and lack of an integrated supply chain in most markets, can be a major hindrance for energy businesses. Couple that with the need to optimise production and improve supply chain management to enhance service and reduce cost, and you understand the need for integrated suppliers to introduce more robust metrics, optimize the inventory and find cost-effective transport solutions.”

Brewer concludes, “This highlights the need to partner with an experienced provider who has extensive knowledge on the region. DHL has an unrivaled global presence and experience to ensure partners are offered integrated solutions that address today’s energy industry challenges.”

-From petroleumafrica.com

Angola and Tanzania Figure Broadly in Statoil’s 2014 Budget

Africa will see a bit more action from Norwegian firm Statoil as its focus targets Angola and Tanzania. The company’s spending for 2014 will remain at the level that was seen in 2013, which was a record for the company. Other regions to see the company’s efforts focus on are Norway and the Gulf of Mexico; the company also plans to drill in the Arctic.

Exploration chief Tim Dodson told Reuters “Next year you can expect about the same level of activity we had this year and the same amount spent, more or less.”

“Maybe not quite as many wells, but because of Angola, there will be a few more expensive wells next year,” Dodson said. “There will be a big tick up in (exploration in) Angola next year, continued drilling in Tanzania, … one or two wells in the Gulf of Mexico, two wells the Faroes and one well in the UK probably.” He continued that in Tanzania exploration will continue and about half of its wells there will be exploration and half appraisal.

Taleveras Picks up More Acreage in Cote d’Ivoire

Taleveras, an indigenous firm out of Nigeria, has signed another upstream deal this year giving it a stake in a block offshore Cote d’Ivoire for Block CI-523. The President and CEO of Taleveras Group, Igho Sanomi, who led the firm’s delegation, signed the deal with officials of the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, Petroci, and Afren.

Prior to this latest deal Taleveras had acquired an interest in Afren’s CI-525, located near the Ghanaian border. The new investment portfolio, which covers Block CI-523, contains the Ibex oil and gas discovery, while CI-525 covers the Kudu and Eland gas discoveries.

In mid-2011 Taleveras signed a MoU with Petroci for collaboration in upstream activities and since then has signed PSCs four offshore exploration blocks. Following the signing of one of these PSCs the company farmed down a stake, bringing in Russian oil giant Lukoil on Block CI-504.  The deal gave Lukoil a 65% stake in the block leaving Taleveras and Petroci with 25% and 10% respectively.

Nigeria: Chevron contributes 12 Fields To Marginal Field Auction

Close to 11 years after the first marginal field awards were granted, Nigeria has launched a second process, with 31 fields in the basket.

15 of the fields planned for auction to Nigerian independents are in shallow water (continental shelf), while the remaining 16 are located onshore, all in the Niger Delta basin, according to Diezani Alison-Madueke, the country’s minister of petroleum resources.

The Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, will, within the next two weeks, undertake a road show to different parts of the country to enlighten stakeholders about the exercise, the minister said. The process is expected to end around mid 2014.

Chevron submitted 12 fields to the DPR for the purpose, including Olure, Bime, Omofejo in Oil Mining Lease (OML) 49. It also has Shango, Meta, Azama, Ruta and Oloye in shallow water OML 95, as well as Obira and Kudo, also in shallow water OML 89. At the time of the submission, it was not clear if all these fields were in the 31-field basket. 

For the first time, fields operated by Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) and ExxonMobil are going to be in a marginal field auction.  NAOC submitted two fields, including the gas field Ajaketon, located in OML 63 and the Odimodi oil field, located in OML 62.

Tanzania’s Gas Policy Prioritizes Domestic Market

Tanzania’s newly approved Natural Gas Policy aims to “ensure that the domestic market is given first priority over the export market in gas supply.” Gas producers in the country will have domestic supply obligation and localization is emphasized down the value chain.

The country currently generates 450MW of electricity from gas-fired plants, fuelled by reservoirs from marginal, shallow water fields. In the last three years however, deepwater discoveries have displayed the country prominently on the gas map of the planet, with the Tanzanian government official estimates of gas reserves standing at 42.7-trillion cubic feet as of September 2013.

The gas policy, approved in early October 2013, will be adopted into a law of the Tanzanian parliament, christened the Natural Gas Act, which regulates mid and downstream activities of the industry, including gas processing, liquefaction, transportation, storage and distribution. It calls for the establishment of a natural gas revenue fund to ensure transparency and accountability over collection, allocation, expenditure and management of all natural gas revenues.

The policy prescribes that natural gas processing take places on shore, so that activities around the projects can impact the local economy more.

Nigeria: Heritage Oil and Bayelsa Oil Company Sets up New Indigenous Company

Heritage Oil has agreed to enter into a joint venture with Bayelsa Oil Company one of the indigenous oil companies in Nigeria owned by the Bayelsa State of Nigeria government for the purpose of setting up a new indigenous oil and gas company, which would be called Petrobay Energy.

Heritage Oil will own 45% of Petrobay Energy, which will be based in the Bayelsa State capital Yenagoa, in the Niger Delta. The venture will give Heritage access to more Nigerian assets while complying with Nigeria’s strict local content laws. Heritage said Petrobay would look to acquire production, development and exploration assets from international oil companies, and would combine “Bayelsa Oil Company’s indigenous support from state government and local communities with Heritage’s strong technical track record and access to financial markets”.

GHANA:Finally, Ghana Passes Oil and Gas Industry Local COntent Law

Ghana has joined the list of Africa countries that has local content laws regulating operations in the oil and gas industry. The Petroleum (Local Content and Local Participation) Regulation, 2013 (LI 2204) which was presented before the Ghana Parliament in July 2013 has been passed into law despite opposition from foreign upstream oil and gas companies and their governments.

 

The purpose of the regulation include the promotion of value addition and job creation through the use of local expertise, goods and services, businesses and financing in the petroleum industry value chain and their retention in Ghana.

 

Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Mr Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah expressed his appreciation to Parliament for the passage of the law and said Ghanaians had been moved from the back of the bus to the front. He said the law was a major step towards ensuring that the local content objective intended to help Ghanaians benefit from the country's new resource was realised.

 

However, some energy law experts believe the Ghanaian local content legislation still has the same problems with those operating in other parts of the continent. According to Harrison Declan, an Aberdeen trained energy law expert based in Nigeria, "while the passage of the local content regulation by the Ghanaian Parliament is a welcome development for the country, the same issues arising in local content legislations in Africa still rears its ugly heads. It seems in local content legislations, African governments have shifted their duty of providing education for their citizens to the foreign oil companies without any provision for compensating these companies. The result would be a situation where the foreign companies are forced to operate in less favourable business climate and would always pull out when a more favourable business climate presents an opportunity. In view of rising development of unconventional oil and gas sources, like Shale, African countries must ensure that those companies who comply with the local content laws are encouraged and compensated either in form of tax reliefs or other incentives".

Benin Sees Discoveries

South Atlantic Petroleum (SAPETRO) made a discovery onshore Benin in late October. The discovery was made with drilling on the company's onshore Block 1. It was reported by the company's VP Daisy Danjuma that SAPETRO discovered 87 million barrels of oil on the block.

Barthelemy Kassa, Benin's minister for mines and energy, said talks has started with the aim of starting production from the block by July next year.

It was also reported that the company discovered a further 110 million barrels of oil in the Seme Offshore Block but production would take longer to begin.

Tanzania Modifies its PSA Model

The Tanzanian government has changed its terms in its Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) by toughing some of the terms and conditions for those companies that seek to cash in on the bonanza of gas that has been discovered off its shores

The Model Production Sharing Agreement has detailed the bonus to be paid by firms to the government upon the sharing of a contract, specified capital gains tax obligations, and outlined a new royalty structure. According to some experts, the new PSA mean higher fees for some companies in offshore areas.

"It's a significant toughening of the fiscal terms," Bill Page, energy and resources leader at Deloitte Consulting Tanzania, told Reuters of the new model agreement. "They have also indicated that they will expect to see more extensive exploration work obligations in the initial periods of the PSA," he said.

The model agreement for 2013, released by the state-run Tanzania Petroleum Development Corp. (TPDC), introduces a minimum signature bonus payment of $2.5 million and a production bonus of at least $5 million payable when production starts. The new PSA also calls for a new royalty rate of 12.5% of total oil or gas production for onshore or shallow operations and a 7.5% royalty rate for offshore production. Previously, special terms for deep water gas was set at a royalty rate of 5%.

Angola LNG Capacity Lagging

After a series of delays in bringing it online, Angola LNG is still not processing at capacity and it doesn't seem that it will reach that capacity anytime in the near future. According to Sonangol, the plant's output will fall short of design capacity through 2014. A number of issues are attributed to the short fall including a rig disaster that forced it to bring forward new supplies from other blocks.

"We started producing this year but we still have not reached maximum production capacity at Angola LNG, we are at around 20 percent," Paulo Fernandes, an executive at Sonangol's production department told attendees at an industry event in Luanda. Angola LNG's first export shipment went out in June and has since shipped another four cargoes. However, a rig disaster in July also delayed efforts to link two offshore blocks with the plant, preventing production from reaching full capacity.

There is a possibility that the plant will be at full capacity by the end of 2014, with Fernandes saying, "We had some problems at the plant's launch stage, but they were resolved and now we're in the phase of commissioning and will progressively get the 100% goal".

NIGERIA: Lekoil Raises Funds for Nigerian Projects

Africa-focused oil explorers Lekoil has secured a new £62 million funding package to pay for its Nigerian drilling projects.

The new share placing, which saw 113, 282, 000 new shares being placed, was successfully completed by Mirabaud as the firm looks to secure its operations in the country.

The £60 million net raised will fund the completion of the Ogo-1 well and future development of the Aje field off the Nigerian coast and also allowing the company to clear its loan with Afren.

"This equity raise reflects Lekoil's success in implementing the strategy, set out at the time of our IPO in May this year, to build a business focused initially on West Africa and diversified in terms of exploration, appraisal and near term production", said chief executive Olalekan Akinyanmi. "I am delighted that our existing and new shareholders have responded so positively".

The company, which announced a post-tax loss of $8.7 million last month, announced a second 'significant' discovery at the Ogo-1 site earlier this week.

MOROCCO: What is going on in Morocco?

In Africa generally, a lot of petroleum exploration has been ongoing, especially in the west coast. In Ghana, Gabon and Namibia, there's been frenetic activities lately, not to mention ongoing work in stalwart producing nations like Nigeria. But the northern end of the coast, off Morocco - where the Atlantic meets the Mediterranean at the Straits of Gibraltar, little is known about the rocks or the oil pools. Recently, there seems to be a convergence of oil majors in this "secret coast". Why could this be?

Some high-profile players are betting that a lack of historic work could mean big discoveries are still lurking there. In January, Chevron (NYSE: CVX) bought up to three offshore blocks in Moroccan waters. And just last week, BP (NYSE: BP) said it will farm into three offshore licences there held by Kosmos Energy (NYSE: KOS)

The statistics back up their enthusiasm: estimates are that up to 10 exploration wells could be drilled off the secret coast over the next 12 to 18 months, more than all the wells drilled there since 1990. Soon, this "secret coast" may end up making the headlines like the hitherto unknown shale formations in the US.

MOROCCO: BP Takes Non-operating Interest in Moroccan Blocks

With a much anticipated drilling programme set to test Morocco's offshore potential, BP has taken a non-operating interest in the adjacent Essaouira offshore, Foum Assaka offshore and Tarhazoute Offshore blocks, and will fund Kosmos' share of the cost of a well in each of them. Tarhazoute was recently converted from a reconnaissance contract. Kosmos described the Agadir Basin as "one of the last remaining underexploited salt basins along the Atlantic Margin".

BP has taken stakes in Kosmos' acreage offshore fromAgadir, but not in its Cap Boujdour Offshore Block, which is within the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Foum Assaka was licensed in 2011 to Kosmos and Pathfinder Hydrocarbon Ventures, now part of Fastnet Oil and Gas, lde by John Craven, whose Cove Energy was a highly successful early mover in Mozambique.

SOUTH AFRICA: Government Publishes Fracking Reglations

Determined to frack its way into the future, the South African government has gazetted regulations for petroleum exploration and exploitation, the majority of which deal with hydraulic fracturing in the country, providing guidelines for environmental impact assessment, detailing equipment standards to ensure safe drilling and  specifying that all operators must obtain a water licence before starting work.

Interested parties have until 14 November to submit comments on the proposals, then the government will make any adjustments and the regulations will be promulgated. Three companies, Royal Dutch Shell, Challenger and Falcon, filed applications for exploration in the Karoo Basiin before the government placed a moratorium on licensing in February 2011.

DR Congo hears call for new approach to settle sea border with Angola

Democratic Republic of Congo's latest national conference has heard a call for a new push to settle the maritime border dispute with Angola and enable the country to take a potential share of the region's offshore oil. The 'Concertations Nationalés' held from 7th September to 5th October in Kinshasa, gathered MPs, Senators and Civil Society organisations to discuss the country's political and economic future. Kinshasa University geologist Professor Ezequiel Kasongo Numbi Kashemukunda, a former MP of President Joseph Kabila's Alliance de la Majorité Présidentielle and former diplomat, called the government to stop wasting time and energy in trying to secure the recognition of its claims over the continental shelf beyond the 200 nautical mile limit.

CONGO: CNOOC Makes Oil and Gas Discovery

Operator CNOOC has made an oil and gas discovery with the E-1 exploration well on the Elephant prospect in Haute Mer A licence area. Partner Oryx Petroleum said the discovery would be tested in early 2014 as part of a multi-well drilling and testing programme on the block. "Reservoir quality, crude quality and viscosity appear to be better than originally anticipated while the areal extent of the reservoir appears to be slightly smaller than expected", said Oryx chief operating officer Henry Legarre. "Although subject to testing, the discovery gives us confidence that there is further upside potential and opportunity to expand the prospect inventory in the licence area".

GHANA: FMC Technologies wins multi-million dollar contract

Tullow Ghana has given FMC Technologies a $340 million contract to supply subsea systems for the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme development. FMC will supply subsea trees, manifolds, tooling and associated subsea control systems. It has been operating in Ghana since 2008 and has recently completed the assembly and testing of the first Ghananian-built subsea trees at its support base in Takoradi.

Sierra Leone: Oil shows for Lukoil

Lukoil and Oranto petroleum have completed their first well offshore Sierra Leone and found an "oil-saturated reservoir" with its first exploration well offshore Sierra Leone. The well on the Savannah structure on Block SL-5-11 was drilled to more than 4,700 metres in water depths of more than 2,000 metres using semi-submersible Ocean Rig Eirik Raude.

In a statement issued late Monday, the government congratulated Lukoil and said full appraisal of the amount of potential oil would be completed by the end of the year. Lukoil who farmed into the block in mid-2011, has a 49% stake in Block SL-5-11 partnered with Oranto. The block is located in a basin where multiple sizeable oil fields have recently been discovered.

Tanzania ready to launch fourth licensing round

Tanzania is set to launch its fourth licensing round on 25th of October, where it would be offering deep-water acreage. Initially, it was said that a precondition for the auction to take place was putting a new gas policy in place. However, the auction would go ahead even though the gas policy is not yet in place.

Interested parties will be invited to bid for eight blocks, seven offshore and one in the north of Lake Tanganyika. The prospect has triggered some excitement in industry circles, not least because the auction has been much delayed, but also because the offshore blocks lie adjacent to big gas discoveries made by BG Group and Statoil, which plan a liquefaction facility to market the gas.

BENIN REPUBLIC: Benin Discovers 87 million Barrels of Oil

Benin said Thursday that it had discovered  87 million barrels of oil off its coast, a tiny amount compared to neighboring Nigeria's reserves, but which could boost the small country's economy.

"We have discovered oil in a significant commercial quantity with Sapetro company which works on Bloc 1 of the sedimentary basin off Seme Podji coast", energy ministers Barthelemy Kassa told AFP.  He further said the discovery would help finance the country's development project. "It is a historic development for our country because this will enable us to finance our development projects", he further stated.

Sapetro is a Nigerian gas exploration and production company. Its chief executive, Daisy Danjuma, wife of a former Nigerian army chief Theophilus Danjuma, said that first commercial oil production will begin in late 2014. 

NIGERIA: Fuel Importation may have been Suspended

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has halted petrol imports as excessive orders has created a petrol glut, Reuters news agency reported on Thursday. Petroleum Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC), a subsidiary of the NNPC responsible for the supply of petroleum products to the domestic market will not make purchases in November, as it tries to work through a 10.2 million barrel (1.2 million tonnes) surplus petrol waiting offshore.

Traders reportedly hinted it was possible that the suspension may extend until the end of the year, which will hit European refiners that supply the market.

Spokesman of PPMC, Nasir Imodagbe, was quoted as stating he was not aware of any cancellation of orders, but that a decision to suspend imports would be that of the regulator, the Petroleum Product Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA).

NIGERIA: Industry Consultant Allays Shale Fears

An energy law consultant in the Nigerian energy sector has allayed fears of the possibility of global shale development negatively affecting the Nigerian economy, which is largely dependent on revenues from sale of conventional oil and gas.

Speaking at an energy forum, Harrison Declan stated that "Nigeria it is believed, is one of such countries who find themselves in a precarious situation in the face of global shale development. Given the notoriety of such sentiment, one might have no choice but to hold same views. However, when a holistic view is taken of the entire scene, one observes that the future of the Nigerian economy vis-a-vis global shale development is not as bleak as is widely believed. The only market Nigeria has lost is the US market, there are still other markets. Also, shale would not live up to its hype".

NIGERIA: Shell Lifts Force Majeure

The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) has lifted the force majeure on Bonny Light exports, effective yesterday following the repair of recent spill points on the Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP).

A statement issued yesterday by SPDC spokesperson, Precious Okolobo, noted that the force majeure was declared on October 10 as a result of production deferment from the spills which were recorded on the 24-inch line of the TNP. He stated that "about 2,200 barrels of oil were spilled, of which more than 1,500 barrels have since been recovered. Further remedial measures, clean-up and repairs are continuing".

He said arrangements for payment of compensation were being made in conjunction with the people in Bunu-Tai and Nonwa-Tai, the two communities which the joint investigation confirmed were impacted by the spill.

ANGOLA: Oil Companies to Pay More Taxes

The Angolan government through Executive Decree No. 333/13 is set to increase the taxes payable by oil companies operating in the country.  The decree imposes a consumption tax on petroleum companies that will raise some costs by as much as 10 percent.

The law requires companies to follow a tax schedule that adds five percent to most services and supplies and double that for equipment rentals.. The law is to come into effect with its publication.

Zambia to reissue dormant petroleum exploration licences

Zambia plans to revoke and reissue petroleum exploration licences that have lain dormant since they were granted in 2010. Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water Development permanent secretary, Victor Mutambo said bidders had been selected for ten blocks to be re-licensed later this month. He said exploration had stalled as most of the companies granted licences lacked the necessary skills and were hoping to sell the blocks at a profit. "To some, we have already issued default notices because, if you hold a licence and you do not do anything, it means speculative tendencies and, doing forward, we just have to cancel these licences and re-advertise them", Mutambo told African Energy.

KENYA: Apache to Exit Kenya

Apache Incorporation, a US independent firm, plans to exit its sole asset in Kenya. The company holds a stake in Kenya's offshore Block L8. Apache plans to focus on projects elsewhere around the world.

Apache was part of the partnership comprised of Tullow Oil, Origin Energy, and Pancontinental Oil & Gas, that discovered Kenya's first natural gas offshore the East African country with the drilling of the Mbawa-1 well. The gas find was non-commercial.

According to Patrick Cassidy, a spokesman for Apache, "this move is part of the company's overall re-balancing program announced earlier this year".

LIBYA: ENI Seeks Increase in Production from Bouri Field

ENI is working on plans to increase the production of its Bouri field which is run by the Mellitah Oil & Gas Co, a JV between ENI and NOC. The Bouri field is currently producing almost 40,000 bpd, and the plan, which involves the launching of new drilling technology would add another 15,000 bpd to that within six months.

With the aid of Schlumberger, the JV company is introducing new drilling technology. Within six months, some 12 wells would be upgraded which would boost output by between 12,000 bpd and 15,000 bpd.

NIGERIA: Oil Spill Aftermath:Shell Shuts Down Trans Niger Pipeline

Shell Nigeria has shut down its Trans Niger Pipeline once again due to reports of leaks deferring 150,000 bpd of crude. The shut down comes just 10 days after Shell re-opened the pipeline. In a Reuter's report, Shell Nigeria spokesman Precious Okolobo said "the latest leaks were reported at B-Dere, Nonwa-Tai, and Bodo West, all in Ogoniland. (Shell Nigeria) shut the line as a precautionary measure and has also mobilized a spill response team.

It would be recalled that recently, there were reports of oil spillage in Ogoniland.

MADAGASCAR: Madagascar Oil Seeks Partner

Madagascar Oil is seeking a partner for its assets onshore Madagascar. The company in a recent presentation said it was looking to farm-out a portion of its 100% interests in Blocks 3105 (Manambolo Concession), 3106 (Morondaa Concession) and 3107 (Manandaza Concession).

The company's data consolidation of the exploration licences includes the incorporation of newly acquired seismic and seismic reprocessing that is nearly complete. Madagascar also plans to complete a new seismic interpretation and prospect generation by end of December, 2013. A data room will open in November and the company is targeting farm-out completion by the end of the first quarter of 2014.

SOUTH AFRICA: Oil Spill Response Ltd opens base in South Africa

Oil Spill Response Ltd (OSRL) has opened a new base in Saldanha Bay, South Africa. The base, which houses state-of-the-art well capping equipment designed to shut-in uncontrolled subsea wells was built to support regional and global response. This is surely a giant leap for Africa's capabilities to respond to oil spills.

The Saldanha capping stick is available to oil and gas companies across the industry through OSRL's Subsea Well Intervention Service(SWIS) which provides for swift subsea incident response around the world. The integrated subsea well intervention system includes four capping stacks suitable for international use and two hardware kits for debris clearance, BOP intervention and the subsea application of dispersant at a wellhead. The equipment can be used for the majority of known subsea wells in water depths up to 3,000 meters.

Robert Limb, Chief Executive of OSRL said "SWIS represents a transformational addition to OSRL's portfolio of services, helping our members prepare for and handle potential subsea well control incidents on a global scale. Members benefit from a world-class capping capability, supported by OSRL's industry-leading response and preparedness expertise. Our new facility at Saldanha has strategic significance in that we are now able to deliver advanced service in this region -  a development that is wholly consistent with our mission to enable the most efficient, safe and effective response to oil spills wherever they may occur".

SOUTH AFRICA: Construction Starts on South African LPG Project

Construction has officially started on South Africa's over US$ 130 million Saldanha LPG import and storage terminal, the Sunrise Energy Terminal. The project is aimed at countering LPG shortages in the Western Cape. It also aids in dismantling what Sunrise Energy MD Barthlo Harmse describes as a monopolized LPG supply chain market. Currently, LPG is transported from Secunda or Richards Bay to the Western Cape, which grows increasingly uneconomical.

Barthlo further stated that "the Sunrise Energy Terminal will be an open-access facility, meaning its infrastructure can be accessed by qualifying wholesale distributors, importers, traders or industrial LPG users, breaking the existing cartel and enabling new producers to enter the market".

Market contracts already awarded include the EPCm Jacobs Matasis and the marine engineering contract to consulting engineers PRDW, with Sunrise expecting up to 70% local spend.

NIGERIA: Another Oil Spill Happens in Ogoniland

Emergency response agencies and security operatives have been alerted to intervene in an oil spill that has occurred in Ogoniland, one of the oil producing communities in Southern Nigeria. The spill is reported to have occurred at Bunu-Tai, in Tai Local Government Area of Rivers State. This is happening 22 years after the first oil spill was recorded there.

In a 15 year period from 1976-1991, there were reportedly 2,976 oil spills of about 2.1 million barrels of oil in Ogoniland accounting for about 40% of the total oil spills of Royal Dutch/Shell company worldwide.

SOMALIA: Genel Energy Suspends Somalia Operations

Security concerns in Somaliland have led Genel Energy, the exploration company run by former BP Chief Executive, Tony Hayward to withdraw its staff from the country. The devastating attack of the Somalia-based Islamist group Al-Shabaab on Nairobi's Westgate shopping centre in late September have increased security fears within the country.

A spokesman of the company told African Energy that "in the face of a deteriorating security situation, we are temporarily suspending our seismic operations".

Uganda and Tanzania to follow Kenyan Lead on Geothermal

Having learnt that geothermal power would contribute some 1,646 MW to Kenya'a proposed 5,000 MW injection of generation capacity, Uganda and Tanzania are keen to take advantage of their own Rift Valley steam potential, even though they both face challenges in terms of financing and technical capacity. 

In May 2013, US developer Ormat Technologies announced the commercial operation of Plant 2 in the Olkaria III complex in Naivasha, and the company plans to bring a third plant on line during 2014, taking Olkaria III's capacity to 100 MW. The site also has 150 MW of generation from two plants developed by Kenya Electricity Generation Company (KenGen), and the state Geothermal Development Company (GDC) estimates Olkaria's total potential capacity to be as high as 1,000 MW

KENYA: Would Kenya's Proposed 5,000 MW Keep Pace With Demand?

Kenya has announced ambitious plans to add more than 5,000 MW to their generating capacity over 40 months. If this is achieved, it would increase the country's generating output from 1,644 MW to over 6,700 MW by the end of 2016.

However, concerns have been expressed as to the prudence of adding so much capacity so quickly, and whether the current electricity demand would meet up with the supply, and the possibility of Kenya ending up with a wasteful electricity surplus. If Kenya is able to generate that amount of electricity, demand would equal supply if six new Nairobis can be created within the same period. While the possibility of this is not in doubt, the practicability is.

Could electricity export be the alternative? Creating the infrastructure to transport electricity to prospective buyer countries would be indeed be a more challenging task.

SOMALIA: ENI Seeks Somalia Entry

Paolo Scaroni, chief executive of ENI, met with the president of Somalia, Sheikh Hassan Mohamud, and during the meeting, ENI's possible entrance into the country's hydrocarbon sector was discussed.

Scaroni expressed ENI's interest in evaluating the exploration potential of hydrocarbons present in Somalia. He also highlighted the company's leadership and experience historically gained in the African continent where ENI is expanding its presence and achieving excellent exploration success.

GHANA: Ghana's Pipeline Project Suffers Further Delay

Ghana's natural gas pipeline has seen a delay in start up and is now not expected to begin flowing until April 2014. The project was supposed to begin pumping this year but was delayed until January.

Funding and other issues have kept the undersea pipeline, which runs from the offshore Jubilee field to a thermal plant near the port city of Takoradi, from keeping to schedule. The latest delay can be attributed to the cargo vessel carrying the equipment for the gas sinking at sea.

"By the end of Q1, the facility should be ready. Within Q2 we should be producing gas," Deputy Energy Minister, John Jinapor told Reuters.

LIBYA: Libya May Offer Gas Blocks in 2014

Libya has revealed that it may offer areas containing natural gas in a licensing round planned for next year. "It is possible that the bidding round could include gas," Mansour Emtir, petrochemical and gas superintendent of the state-run NOC told Bloomberg, as the country would need more gas to use as feedstock for its power plants and petrochemical projects.

Libya's gas reserves are "largely unexploited and unexlpored", NOC Gas Committee Chairman Jamal Hawisa said while speaking to attendees at the industry event. It is estimated that its already proven natural gas reserves of 54 Tcf could double with an influx of natural gas exploration. 

CONGO: ENI and SNPC to Explore Ngolo Together

ENI, the Italian oil giant and the Republic of Congo's (ROC) state-run firm Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (SNPC) will team up to jointly search for hydrocarbons in the Ngolo block. The block is located northeast of Brazzaville and covers an approximately 6,000 square miles in part of the little-explored Cuvette Basin.

ENI Congo will participate as operator in the Joint Venture (JV) with SNPC for the exploration of the block. The ROC's Ministry of Hyrdocarbons assigned the Ngolo exploration license to SNPC in mid-July, and exploration activities will take place over a period of 10 years.

The Italian firm said that the exploration activities on Ngolo, due to begin during the next few months will be carried out using the most sophisticated prospecting techniques including 'remote sensing' and geophysical surveys.

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Malawi: Consultants Sought for Kholombidzo

The Malawian Ministry of Energy is seeking bids from consultants interested in conducting a feasibility study for the 100MW Kholombidzo hydroelectric power plant on the Shire River. The study, financed by the African Development Bank, will look at the technical and economic feasibility of the project, social and environmental impacts, investigate options for damming or diverting water flow, and prepare preliminary engineering designs and cost estimates.

Kenya: Contractors Sought For Transmission Project

Kenya Electricity Transmission Company is inviting bids from contractors to build the 400/200kv Mariakani substation, part of the Mombasa-Nairobi transmission project. The $275.34 million project involves construction of a 450km 400kv double-circuit transmission line between Rabai, in Mombasa, where Aldwych International has built a power plant, and the Isinya substation near Nairobi. 

Finance is coming from the Agence Française de Développement (27.9%), the African Development Bank (27.2%), the European Investment Bank (27.91%) and the Kenyan Government (16.98%). Bids are due by October 11, 2013.

NetcoDietsmann Wins O & M Contract for Afam VI

Shell Petroleum Development Company has given the NetcoDietsmann joint venture an integrated operation and maintenance services contract for the Afam VI power plant in Rivers State, Nigeria, The scope of the contract provides for full operation and maintenance of the 650MW plant, including complete operation of three 160MW GT13E2 gas turbines and a 220MW Alstom steam turbine. The initial contract value is $5.4million per annum.

Mozambique-Senegal: APR Energy Signs New Deals

APR Energy has announced new contracts to provide a 40MW of power to Mozambique and 32MW to Senegal. The Mozambique award is a multi-year contract for a fast-track power plant comprising of gas power modules. The plant will run solely on natural gas and will be APR Energy's second project in the country. APR's 32MW contract diesel power modules in Senegal will supplement the 66MW the company is already providing. The new capacity will be installed at APR's Kounoune site just outside Dakar.

Algeria'sSonatrach Makes a Discovery in Libya

Algeria's state-run firm Sonatrach has made a gas discovery in Libya. According to Libya's state-run firm NOC, the discovery was made on Area 95/96 in the Ghadames Basin.

Sonatrach partnered with Oil India and India Oil Corporation made the discovery while drilling the new field wildcat well B1-95/02. The initial production test results from the Ordovican Mamouniyat Formation show the well flowed at a rate of 10Mmcf/d.

This is the second discovery announced by NOC in the past week. The previous one was made by Polish Oil and Gas Co. (POGC) Libya in the Murzuk Basin.

Mozambique Sets Capital Gains Tax Rate

Mozambique officially instituted a fixed tax rate on the sale of assets by foreign firms. An official rate of 32% will take affect starting next year. The new tax rate follows criticism on a deal in 2012 that did not benefit the country as much as it should.

Under the 2012 deal between Cove Energy and PTTEP, Cove only paid a tax rate of 12.8%. The country's parliament passed an amendment to the tax regime last year, stipulating that sales of assets held by non-resident firms would be taxed at 32% without consideration for the period they were held. But the new law was put on hold, pending a review by the president of the southeast African state.

"The constitutional issues that delayed the passing of the tax law have been overcome and the president has promulgated the law", Rosario Fernandea, head of the tax authority, told Reuters. "Come January 1, capital gains in all mega-projects, including oil and gas, will be taxed according to the new legislation".

The fixed-rate tax will affect any future gas field deals in Mozambique's attractive Rovuma basin and could spur companies with agreements in the works to push them through before the end of 2013.

Malta and Libya signs MoU

The Mediterranean island nation of Malta and North Africa's Libya have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the supply of oil products. The announcement of the MoU came during a joint press conference between Maltese prime minister Joseph Muscat and his Libyan counterpart Ali Zidan.

Malta said in a statement "the relationship between Malta and Libya took a quantum leap today with the signing of the memorandum of understanding, which is crucial and beneficial for both countries".

Under the MoU Libya will supply Malta with an undisclosed amount of oil  products, including processed and crude oil, diesel, petrol, jet fuel, and LPG. The deal offers Malta the oil products under favorable terms and conditions.

The agreement between the two cannot be implemented immediately however as Libya's production and export levels are at an all time low due to protests in the country. The deal will push forward as soon as production returns to normal.

Guinea Government to Generate 50MW Following Power Riots

Following riots over power shortages, the government of Guinea has signed a $10 million contract with Aggreko for 50MW of short-term thermal for Conakry, the country's capital. Electricité de Guinée director-general Nava Touré said the six-month contract was the only way to calm rising social tensions in the capital. In early August, demonstrators set up roadblocks, burned tires and halted traffic to protest at the government's failure to meet its promises to improve electricity supply. Security forces intervened to restore order and at least ten people were injured.

Oryx Petroleum Hits Elephant Target in Republic of Congo

Oryx Petroleum Corporation Ltd. made a new discovery off the coast of the Republic of Congo (ROC) with the drilling of its E-1 exploration well. The well was targeting the Elephant (former Xiang) prospect in the Haute Mer A license area and discovered both oil and natural gas.

The company will test the Elephant discovery in early 2014 as part of its multi-well drilling and testing program in the Haute Mer A license area where it has a 20% participating and working interest.

Commenting, Henry Legarre, Oryx Petroleum's CEO, stated: "We are very pleased with the Elephant discovery as it represents an important milestone in the building of our West African business. Overall the results are consistent with expectations. Reservoir quality, crude quality and viscosity appear to be better than originally anticipated while the real extent of the reservoir appears to be slightly smaller than expected. We look forward to working with our partners to test and potentially appraise the Elephant discovery. Although subject to testing, the discovery gives us confidence that there is further upside potential and opportunity to expand the prospect inventory in the license area".

Tullow Farms Into Namibia Field

Tullow has struck a deal worth up to $130 million to take operatorship over Pancontinental's exploration licence off the coast of Namibia.

The deal will see Tullow take a 65% stake in the licence for the site, in the Walvis basin. Pancontinental chief executive Barry Rushworth noted that they were very pleased to have a major second partnership with an operator of such high calibre as Tullow Oil. "We identified EL0037 as one of the most prospective areas offshore Namibia and we are now extremely pleased that Tullow supports our view", he further said.

Mozambique Adds to ENI's Gas Output

Mozambique added to its natural gas totals with a new discovery on Area 4 by Italian firm ENI. The company said it has made a new gas discovery with drilling on the Agulha exploration prospect.

The Agulha was drilled in 2,492 meters of water and reached a total depth of 6,203 meters. The company's preliminary estimates show that the Agulha structure could contain 5 to 7 Tcf of gas in place, having encountered 160 meters of wet gas pay in good quality Paleocene and Cretaceous reservoirs.

Eni and its partners in Area 4 are finalizing the assessment of the discovery, and planning the appraisal strategy.

The well, which led to the discovery, is the tenth well drilled back to back in Area 4, where exploration has achieved a 100% rate of success. The discovery opens a new exploration play in the southern part of Area 4 where the drilling of three additional wells is foreseen in 2014.

ENI is the operator of Area 4 with a 50% indirect interest owned through ENI East Africa, which holds 70% of Area 4. The other partners are Galp Energia (10%). KOGAS (10%), and ENH (10% carried through the exploration phase). CNPC owns a 20% indirect participation in Area 4 through ENI in East Africa.

Crude Oil Theft: Like Nigeria, Like Europe

Like the unfortunate and persisting case  of crude oil theft in Nigeria, fuel theft, smuggling and fraud in Europe has been on the increase, where governments from Poland to the UK are losing between 100 million euros and 1.3 billion euros in tax revenue a year.

Europe's black market is adding to hard times for the refineries as the lowest demand in two decades saps refineries, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). An average 11.6 million barrels of oil a day of crude was processed from January through May in the region's richest economies, the lowest level for any corresponding period since 1989.

Fuel fraud in countries such as Austria and Germany is dwarfed by scams taking place in Eastern Europe, according to PKN Orlen SA, Poland's largest refiner. Smuggling is most prevalent in border areas where gaps in fuel prices are the widest.

European governments are trying to respond, with Czech President signing a law that changes the country's tax code, and Ireland introducing an electronic system this year to monitor fuel movements.

Without measures to contain fuel fraud, there may be "a snowball effect, which will take years to be stopped", the Polish Organization of Oil, Industry and Trade said in an April report.

Kenya Petroleum Law Nears Completion

The government of Kenya is to see its draft petroleum laws put into action. It is expected that the first draft of the revised laws on the petroleum sector will be ready for approval by the parliament in November. The revised law comes as oil discoveries made onshore the country have been deemed commercial in quantity.

The last time Kenya updated its petroleum laws was in 1986. The revised law also contains new guidelines on natural gas exploration.

Energy and Petroleum Principal Secretary, Joseph Njoroge told reporters that the draft would take about another three months to be ready for debate in the parliament. He further said that the government was optimistic it would get financiers to help build a pipeline to transport crude oil from Uganda to Lamu, where the government is planning to build a new port.

South Africa Gives Condition for Shale Exploration

In South Africa, companies who want to explore for shale gas received little clarification from the country's water and environmental ministry on just what it will take. Water and environmental minister, Edna Molewa, said that companies looking for shale gas exploration permits must also apply for a water usage license.

South Africa has seen a substantial amount of interest in its shale resources from companies such as Falcon Oil and Gas and Shell; however, concerns over the impact of fracking have held the government in some instances from giving the firms green light.

The government, in 2012, lifted its moratorium on shale gas exploration in its Karoo Basin which sent environmentalists on the war path as they were concerned that fracking could potllute water supplies.

PIB Stalemate in Nigeria Leads to Exit of Oil Majors

Another two oil majors are said to  be pulling out of their commitment to Nigeria's Olokola LNG project. Both Chevron and Shell have reportedly pulled out of the project. BG Group divested from Okolola LNG four years ago. As both companies held a 19.5% stake in the LNG facility, there is now a 39% stake up for grabs.

Chevron and Shell's stake divestment is attributed to the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill  (PIB) and a lack of commitment on the part of the Nigerian government to pursue the completion of the project.

The Olokola LNG project was initiated in 2005. It is located between Ogun and Ondo states. The MOU and Shareholders Agreement were signed in 2005 and 2007 respectively, FID was taken in 2007, and first production was expected two years later but nothing concrete on the project has been done since then.

The PIB, which is a comprehensive legislation on the Nigerian petroleum industry, that seeks to overhaul the country's petroleum legislation was presented by the Nigerian government to the country's legislature. However, the failure of the legislature to pass same into law has created uncertainties in the country's petroleum sector, with major companies said to have freezed further investment pending the passage of the Bill.

Fracking Fights Spread Into South Africa

The battle line has been drawn between Environmentalists and the South African government over the latter's desire to allow Royal Dutch Shell Plc carry out shale gas drilling in the South African country, with farmers and conservationists like billionaire Johann Rupert insisting that the land would be spoiled. Also, landowners are lining up against the water-intensive drilling techniques that Europe's biggest oil company intends to use.

The government estimates enough gas can be discovered to generate 1 trillion rand (US$1 billion) of sales within three decades and help bring a country that imports 70% of its crude oil needs closer to supplying its own energy demand.

The drilling would be carried out in the Karoo semi-desert, which is a vast region that covers more than 400,000 square kilometres, around 40% of South Africa's land mass, and has remained virtually undeveloped for hundreds of mullions of years.

Rob Davies, the trade and industry minister, said that the cabinet has agreed to begin shale gas exploration in Karoo before the next year's general elections.

Environmentalists are angered and have promised to fight the decision in court.

Asia receives third shipment of liquid natural gas from Angola LNG

Angolan Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) Company, has sent its third shipment of LNG, which was loaded on the Lobito tanker ship headed for Southeast Asia, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Citing traders from Singapore, the newspaper said that the final destination of the ship was unknown and noted that the first shipment was sent to Brazil and the second to China.

The Angolan LNG project is a consortium of Sonangol, which owns 22.8 percent of the project and the Angolan subsidiaries of Chevron (36.4 percent), Total (13.6 percent), BP (13.6 percent) and ENI (13.6 percent) and processes natural gas for later sale.

It is also one of the biggest investments ever made in the Angolan oil and gas industry - US$10 billion - and has seven tanker ships and three loading docks. The project is intended to prevent natural gas burn-off at Angola's oil fields and provide clean and reliable energy to customers and capitalise on the investment in the project.

Anadarko to Sell Stake to ONGC

Anardarko Petroleum Corporation has signed an agreement to divest 10% of its interest in the Mozambique Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) prospect to ONGC Videsh Ltd, an operating wing of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited. The transaction is priced at US$2.64 billion and will be concluded by late 2013.

The deal is subject to existing preferential rights, governmental approvals and other customary closing conditions. Despite the divestment, Anardako Petroleum will continue to be the majority interest holder and operator in the Mozambique offshore Area 1 field.

The company intends to plough back the sale proceeds to its domestic high-growth drilling opportunities - the Watterberg field, Eagleford Shale, Permain and Powder River basins, as well as the Gulf of Mexico.

Eco Wins Oil Exploration Rights in Namibia

Eco (Atlantic) Oil and Gas Ltd has received final approval from Namibia's Ministry of Mines and Energy for the inclusion of all oil and gas rights on its Skeleton Coast Licence number 31, which is a transition license that is both onshore Huab Basin and extends offshore Walvis Basin.

The license, which the company has named 'Daniel', covers Blocks 2114, 2013B, and 2014B. The license originally covered only CBM and shale rights but now will include all petroleum. It has an offshore section extending into Walvis Basin which the company has recently evaluated for oil prospectivity.

Caracal Energy Close to First Oil in Chad

Caracal Energy, the Canadian operator in Chad, is looking forward to exporting up to 14,000 barrels of oil per day from its Badila field in Chad before the end of 2013, the company says in a release.

The company is making progress towards producing into the export line from Chad to Cameroon, with an initial shipment of 468,000 barrels of line fill contribution for the partners Glencore, SHT and Caracal, after which it can accumulate oil for sale.

Caracal Energy completed the Badila Production facility in the second quarter of 2013. This included the tie-in of the first two production wells Badila-1 and Badila-2. The 14,000 barrel per day will initially come from production in these two. The third development well, Badila-3, is yet to be hooked up.

Caracal says that the Inland Transportation Authorization (ITA) has been granted and PetroChad Transportation Inc. (PCT) will be shipping and measuring oil shipments into the Export Transportation System through custody transfer metering.

Cameroon Officially Takes Over Bakassi from Nigeria

It has been five years in the making but Cameroon has finally taken full sovereignty over the Bakassi Peninsula. The Peninsula was ceded by Nigeria in 2008 after an International Court of Justice ruling, ending years of border skirmishes between the two countries.

2013 brought an end to the five - year UN-backed transition period. This period exempted residents in the area, many of them Nigerian fishermen, from paying tax, but now the Nigerians must apply for residency permit or take on Cameroonian citizenship if they choose to remain in their homes and pay taxes. 

There are roughly 300,000 people who live in the Bakassi Peninsula, with about 90% of those being Nigerian.

Exodus of Oil Majors from Egypt as Violence Escalates

An exodus of major oil companies from Egypt has commenced as the death toll from clashes between police and supporters of the country's ousted president exceeded 600 last night.

Shell said it was closing its offices in the crisis-hit North African country as chaos reigned on the streets.

BG Group, whose offshore liquified natural gas (LNG) operations in Egypt account for about a fifth of its total production, has already pulled out more than 100 workers. Meanwhile, BP and Aberdeen based Dana Petroleum said they were monitoring their operations closely as bloodshed continued.

The crisis is also impacting on the oil price, which in turn, could push up petrol prices in the coming weeks. Brent Crude is heading towards a 2013 high and topped $111 dollars yesterday.

Egypt's Suez Canal, an important supply route for Middle East oil, is expected to be disrupted by a curfew imposed to curb violence. Security problems are also disrupting supplies in Nigeria, Libya and Iraq.

Inga Hydropower Project in DRC - Sustainable Energy for Millions

The Congo River, one of the most powerful rivers in Africa, has a very high hydropower potential that could contribute significantly to the needs of the continent. Currently, only the Inga site of the river is being harnessed for hydropower generation, with an installed capacity of only 1775 MW compared with Inga's potential of 40,000 MW.

The African Development Bank (ADB) has been an active partner in rehabilitating Inga 1 and laying the groundwork for Grand Inga, implemented between 1993 and 1997, with African Development Foundation (ADF) funding.

ADF-11 has invested US$ 15 million to finance project preparation work leading to feasibility analysis for Inga 3 project, the first phase of Grand Inga. The Bank is providing active counsel and assistance to the Democratic Republic of Congo government. It led a DFI coordination process. Without its intervention, the project would have stalled.

ADF-12 made a technical assistance grant of $US 37 million for feasibility studies to realize the potential for 4,800 MW of Inga 3 which will be an investment of US$ 10 million. The Inga is a Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) priority project.

ADF-13 is expected to play a crucial role in realization of the project.

Nigerian Editors To Discuss Country's Over-dependence on Oil

Nigerian editors would be discussing the country's over-dependence on oil with a view to bringing up suggestions on how the country could be salvaged from such precarious state. This would be the crux of the 9th All Nigerian Editors Conference (ANEC) slated for Asaba from the 21st - 24th of August, 2013.

According to a statement signed by ANEC's General Secretary, Mr Isaac Ighure, the theme of the four-day conference would be 'Nigeria Beyond Oil: Role of the Editor'. The conference would be chaired by a former Governor of one of Nigerian states, and would see Africa's richest man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote delivering a keynote address.

AFRICAN PETROLEUM BOARD RESTRUCTURE AND ASX LISTING

Further to its announcement dated 28 June 2013, African Petroleum Corporation Limited (NSX: AOQ) (“African Petroleum” or the “Company”) advises that it is continuing to proceed with seeking a listing on the official list of the Australian Securities Exchange (“ASX”).

As part of the listing on ASX, and conditional on proceeding with the listing application, the Board of the Company will be restructured and comprise the following:

Charles Matthews – Independent Non-Executive Chairman;

Karl Thompson – Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director;

Mark Ashurst – Chief Financial Officer and Executive Director;

Gibril Bangura – Non-Executive Director;

Jeffrey Couch – Independent Non-Executive Director;

Gordon Grieve – Independent Non-Executive Director;

David King – Independent Non-Executive Director;

James Smith – Independent Non-Executive Director; and

Anthony Wilson – Independent Non-Executive Director.

Mr Frank Timis will resign as Non-Executive Chairman of the Company and assume the role of president of the Executive Committee of the Company which is a committee formed to support and advise the Board, implement Board strategy and to exercise the executive powers of the Company.

Further details of the experience of the proposed Board is set out in the annexure to this Announcement.

Admission to ASX is subject to the Company satisfying the relevant ASX listing requirements. Subject to ASX admission being granted, the Company would then de-list from NSX. The Company will keep shareholders informed of further developments.

In addition, further to the release of the Company’s quarterly statement for the three months ended 30 June 2013, the Board is pleased to announce that USD$10.5 million has been released from restricted cash to unrestricted cash. As a consequence, as at 12 August 2013, the Company’s unrestricted cash amounts to US$20.0 million.

Japan and Kenya to Join Forces in Exploration

Reports from the Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry ministry states that Japan and Kenya will undertake joint exploration of hydrocarbon resources in the East African Country. Minister Toshimitsu Motegi confirmed with the Kenyan government that the two countries will jointly undertake oil exploration in the southwestern part of Kenya. This is subsequent to an agreement entered in April 2012 between Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC), Japan's National Oil Company (NOC) and the National Oil Corporation of Kenya (NOCK), Kenya's NOC.

Motegi met Deputy President William Ruto in Nairobi and told Kyodo News that "it is important for Japan to secure oil interests" in Kenya eventually.

Exploration is expected to be undertaken through the fall of 2014. Japan has been requesting for Japanese companies to be given concessions for exploration in the country.

AGOCO Board Change Leads to Protest in Libya

The replacement of the entire management board of Arabian Gulf Oil Company (AGOCO) has exposed deep splits in the workforce and management of Libya's oil sector and led to further interruptions in production. Rival groups of unions have issued statements greeting or condemning the management change, which comes after months of operational failures at the company. Output from Agoco, which is one of the main fully state-owned producers of crude, has suffered because of a lack of power capacity as its main fields in the east of Libya and also periodic protests at the Marsa al-Harigah export terminal at Tobruk.

Eni Agrees to Pay Mozambican Tax Bill

Italian firm Eni has agreed to pay up the $400 million in sales tax to the Mozambican government on the sale of a portion of its stake in Offshore Area 4 to Chinese firm CNPC. Eni's sale of nearly 30% of its Mozambican subsidiary to CNPC gives CNPC a 20% stake in its lucrative Area 4 offshore gas field. The Italian firm is still the operator of Area 4 with a 50% stake.

Eni said it had also agreed to build a 75 mw power plant in Mozambique's northern Cab Delgado province, near where it its massive natural gas discoveries were made. It estimates the plant will cost around $75 million to construct.