Africa NEWS

Supermajor, Total yesterday inked an $8.8 billion asset purchase deal with Occidental, and dropped a new bombshell in the ongoing Chevron-Anadarko-Occidental battle. If Occidental wins the bid, then the binding agreement will require the firm to sell Anadarko Petroleum’s oil and gas assets in Africa. Post divestment, Occidental will gain ownership to the Western Midstream Partners and Anadarko’s acreages in U.S. shale basins, the Gulf of Mexico and South America.

The CEO of Total, Pouyanne, informed that the company is expected to formally approve the Ikike project in Nigeria in the upcoming months. The energy major holds the largest proven reserves in Africa and is one of the strongest player in the continent. Pouyanne also said, “There is a huge potential in Nigeria, it is probably the most prolific country in West Africa in terms of oil and gas”.

UAE’s Polarcus Limited is an offshore geophysical company which has been awarded a project of 3D marine seismic acquisition in West Africa. Under the scope of this project, there are two surveys each of approximately 3 months. As per the information, the first survey is expected to start in the second-quarter of 2019 while the second survey will commence in the fourth quarter of 2019.

With Chinese refiners struggling to find alternatives to Iranian crude, oil shipments from West Africa oil to Asia will reach a two-month high in October. Reuters’ calculations and Refinitiv Eikon data show 2.52 million barrels per day (bpd) growth in the loadings for Asia in October. West African oil imports to China are predicted to rise to a record 1.94 million bpd.

Equatorial Guinea’s National Content Regulation of 2014 says “all agreements must have local content clauses and provisions for capacity building.” Failing to obey the local-content rules over training and jobs, the oil-services companies, TechnipFMC Plc, Subsea 7 SA and Schlumberger Ltd. might be excluded from the country. By September end, the oil companies could be asked to cancel their contracts with the existing service providers and issue new tenders.

Anglo African Oil & Gas plc, which is an independent oil and gas developer, has decided to append drilling TLP-103 following some problem of topside. SMP is the drilling contractor of the company and has informed that the issue is affecting a rig offshore the Congo in Tilapia Field. The company is now working towards finding an optimal solution of the problem and is trying to avoid any further delay.

The second-largest oil producer of Africa, Angola, has been hit by the waves of lower oil prices which resulted in its failure of providing economic support to the country. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) informed on Tuesday that it would provide Angola the financial support, amount still undisclosed, as the country's economic growth has dropped down this year. The weaker economic conditions of Angola stopped many foreign countries from investing.

ANOH gas project will go through a speedy development after the NNPC signs an agreement of five years with Seplat Petroleum Development Company for the same. This gas development scheme is said to improve and enhance the gas production and infrastructure of the country. By 2020, ANOH will produce approximately 3.4 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day. It is one of the 7 CGDPs in Nigeria.

French supermajor, Total is planning to elevate oil production in Nigeria by 200,000 bpd, by the end of 2018. The company is focusing on the development of the Egina Deep project to achieve the target. Total, reportedly, accounts for 15 percent of Nigeria’s total oil production currently. The French oil firm remains committed to its projects in Nigeria, despite the challenging environment in the African nation.

India’s ONGC Videsh Ltd informed that Sudan is making its move towards mitigating default on payment of dues and thus, has asked OVL to pull out its arbitrary proceedings against the nation. OVL earlier this year in London court filed an arbitration claim against Sudan’s government. This is in relation with the pending dues from a 2011 breakaway of South Sudan from a project.

Singapore-based PACC Offshore Services Holdings (POSH) has renewed the ship agency contract with GAC Angola. POSH, which is an offshore marine services provider, is taking services from GAC for Soyo and Luanda, but the renewed contract has included Cabinda as well. The contract requires GAC to provide an integrated range of services for the POSH fleet at all Angolan ports.

Ethiopia, last Thursday, added to the list of oil-producing African nations. The country kick-started its first-ever crude oil production under a test production scheme led by Poly-GCL Petroleum Investment Limited. The initial production is projected around 450 barrels of oil per day. Additionally, Ethiopia is also planning to start the construction of a pipeline that would export natural gas, in September.

The Republic of Congo has made the latest entry in the list of OPEC member. The country’s membership was approved by the cartel yesterday during the 174th Ordinary Meeting of OPEC. Congo was amongst 11 non-member countries that stood with OPEC’s decision to cut oil production, back in 2017. The African country has expressed gratitude towards the Secretary of General of OPEC, and all the members of OPEC.

Total, the French oil major, has decided to make an investment of $1.2b to stimulate offshore production in Angola. Angola is the second-largest oil producer in Africa, though a period of lower oil prices and field maturation are curbing its potential. Total has regarded this new investment as the opening of a "new chapter" in the deep waters of Angola. Total leads a consortium developing the Zinia 2 offshore development.

French energy giant Total SA intends to bolster oil exploration and open more fuel stations in Africa’s most industrialized country, consequently enhancing its footprint in the region. In South Africa, the company plans to expand its network of more than 500 fuel stations and finish a deepwater exploration well commenced in 2014.

On rising environmental concerns, the use of polluting pet coke and fuel oil has been banned in the National Capital Region (NCR), India. Consequently, Indraprastha Gas Ltd. (IGL) experienced a considerable gain in the last financial year. It further expects a hike in its sales volume to industrial and commercial clients by 20% in 2018-19.

Linda Cook, the CEO of U.S. based Harbour Energy, has made a $10.3 billion offer to Santos, Australia’s third largest producer. Cook said she would work towards the expansion of Santos in Asia and Africa. The prime focus would be on natural gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) in particular.

The annual MENA Energy Investment Outlook of Arab Petroleum Investments Corporation (APICORP), the multilateral development bank, predicts 3.2% growth in 2018 and 2019. It reflects that a considerable number of critical projects will be pushed in the MENA region in the next five years despite the volatile geopolitics. A total of $345 billion has been committed to ongoing projects and furthermore, $574 billion worth of development is planned.