Upstream

Shell has announced today the sale of its onshore Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), to the Renaissance Africa Energy Company comprised of ND Western, Aradel Energy (former Niger Delta E&P), First E&P, Waltersmith and Petrolin. The deal is still subject to approvals by the Nigerian government and, if completed, would represent the […]

On September 27th, Afreximbank signed an agreement to provide a $300m facility to Trident OGX Congo for the development of the onshore Mengo-Kundji-Bindi II (MKB II) oil fields in the Republic of Congo. The reserve-based lending (RBL) facility will support the company’s capex programme to increase the country’s oil production by 30%, according to Afreximbank. […]

This story was first published on the Hawilti+ Terminal on 13 September 2023. Côte d’Ivoire’s Cabinet has adopted a resolution on September 13th on the signing of a new production sharing contract (PSC) for block CI-705 with Ivory Coast Exploration (ICE) Oil & Gas. The block is located offshore Fresco and was relinquished by TotalEnergies […]

ExxonMobil’s subsidiaries in Nigeria are seeking to mobilise two deep-water drilling rigs for a period of three years, with options of a further two years. Under a tender opportunity issued this week, the companies are seeking to conduct drilling, completion, testing, temporary abandonment, and workover activities in water depth ranging from 600m to 1,800m. The […]

Corcel Plc, an AIM-listed company with interest across battery metals and oil & gas, has acquired a 90% interest in Atlas Petroleum Exploration Worldwide Limited (Apex Atlas), which was recently awarded operated and non-operated interests in onshore oil & gas blocks in Angola. The company is not to be confused with Atlas Petroleum International, the […]

Nigeria produced 37.35 million barrels of crude oil and condensate in April this year, loosing 10 million barrels from its March production levels, according to data from NUPRC. This brought the country’s average daily oil production below the 1 million barrels of oil per day (bopd) threshold, in a country where production capacity stands at […]

Some $200m is being invested into exploring Blocks 30, 44 and 45 in the frontier Namibe Basin offshore Angola, according to the country’s Ministry of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas (MIREMPET). The blocks are operated by ExxonMobil (60%) under Risk Service Contracts signed at the end of 2020 with Sonangol E&P (40%) and the Agency […]

Angola’s Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuel (ANPG) and Chevron’s local subsidiary CABGOC have announced the start of production from the Lifua-A project within Block 0. Chevron intends to develop the Lifua reserves via three different phases, Lifua-A, -B, and -C. Phase A relies on a stacked template structure (STS) platform with ten wells, including […]

Nigeria’s NNPC announced on March 6th the appointment of NNPC Eighteen Operating Ltd as operator of Oil Mining Lease 18 (OML 18) onshore Nigeria by the block’s non-operating joint-venture partners. OML 18 is operated by Eroton Exploration and Production Co. (27%) while non-operating partners include NNPC (55%), OML 18 Energy Resource (Sahara Group, 16.2%) and […]

Despite a very tight offshore rig supply market, 2023 might set a new 10-year high for Africa’s offshore drilling market as several development, infill, and exploration campaigns get executed this year. According to the Offshore Rigs Tracker released this week by Hawilti and the Caverton Offshore Support Group (COSG) Plc, over 30 rigs are already […]

The National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (NAMCOR) has confirmed that the Jonker-1X well has discovered light oil within PEL 39 in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia. This is the third successful well in the license after the drilling of Graff-1 and La Rona-1 last year. PEL 39 comprises of Blocks 2913A and 2914B, operated by […]

Woodside Energy has entered into an exclusive Option Deed to enter into PEL 87 offshore Namibia, a deep-water block located north of recent discoveries made by TotalEnergies and Shell in the Orange Basin offshore Namibia. The License was awarded to Australian junior Pancontinental Energy in 2018. Since then, the company mapped a very large Saturn […]

Azule Energy has awarded several contracts worth some $7.8bn to international services companies for the development of its Agogo West Hub Integrated Project offshore Angola. The company is owned by bp and Eni. The project comprises 36 new wells producing via a 120,000 bopd FPSO vessel with a gas injection capacity of 230 MMscf/d and […]

Shell has signed an Exploration & Production Contract (CEP) with the Ministry of Petroleum, Mines and Energy of Mauritania for offshore Block C2. The block is located just south of C10, another license already operated by Shell E&P Mauritania since 2018, and east of C8 where bp has discovered the BirAllah and Orca gas fields. […]

Last Wednesday, Côte d’Ivoire’s Cabinet approved the signing of production sharing contracts (PSCs) for blocks CI-102, CI-103, CI-502, CI-531, and CI-709 with MURPHY Exploration & Production; and of blocks CI-523 and CI-525 with its national oil company PETROCI. Hawilti reported last September that both the American independent and PETROCI had expressed interest for the blocks. […]

Equatorial Guinea has awarded offshore exploration blocks to Panoro Energy and Africa Oil Corp. as it seeks to unlock additional reserves and reverse production decline. Earlier this month, the country appointed the former head of its national oil company, Antonio Oburu Ondo, to replace Gabriel Obiang Lima as Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons. Infrastructure-led exploration […]

TotalEnergies has decided to mobilise almost 50% of its global exploration budget to Namibia this year as it hopes to confirm a multi-billion barrels discovery on block 2913b within the Orange Basin. CEO Patrick Pouyanné made the announcement during the company’s 2022 Results & 2023 Objectives presentation this week. The French major will spend $300m […]

TotalEnergies is expected to start its much-anticipated infill drilling campaign offshore Nigeria in February 2023, its partner Africa Oil Corp. has said. The major has been planning a new drilling campaign on its flagship deepwater block OML 130 for some time, with an initial start scheduled for Q3 2022. The campaign will focus on infill […]

RusselSmith, one of Nigeria’s leading oil & gas maintenance and inspection solutions companies, has joined the Roboze 3D Parts Network. The Nigerian services company is now part of a network of specialized additive manufactured centres that use Roboze ARGO Production technology and are able to deliver on complex designs and difficult engineering challenges.   “We […]

The oil & gas sector knows no break and has had its fair share of developments over the past two weeks. Here is what you need to know as you get back to the office. Mozambique has announced the results of its 6th Licensing Round On December 21st, Mozambique revealed the results of its 6th […]

Azule Energy has signed an Agreement for Preliminary Activities (APA) with Yinson Azalea Production Pte Ltd to commence all preliminary activities for the provision, operation and maintenance of a FPSO asset for the Agogo Integrated West Hub Development Project offshore Angola. Agogo will be the third FPSO on Block 15/06, operated by Eni Angola (now […]

Perenco has confirmed a new oil discovery within the Tchibeli North East pre-salt Vandji exploration prospect on its PNGF Sud shallow water permit in Congo-Brazzaville. “Good oil and gas shows were recorded on entry into the reservoir and a 75m oil column was interpreted on logs. A test of these zones produced at 2,000 bopd, […]

Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas has announced that its shallow water Gazania-1 well within Block 2B offshore South Africa did not encounter commercial hydrocarbons. The well was the fourth one to be drilled this year in the Orange Basin following Graff-1 (Shell), Venus-1 (TotalEnergies) and La Rona-1 (Shell). Gazania-1 is the only disappointing one so […]