VFuels wins FEED contract for new refinery in Nigeria


VFuels LLC, a Houston- based oil and gas engineering firm, has signed a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract with HSI Refining & Petrochemical Company Ltd for a modular refinery project in Nigeria. The contract, which was announced on 17th November, covers the design and engineering of a 5,000 barrels per day (bpd). The refinery will […]

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NNPC signs MoU with Indorama to boost Nigeria’s domestic gas industry


This story was first published on the Hawilti+ Terminal on 18 September 2023. Nigeria National Oil Petroleum Company (NNPC), the country’s state energy firm, and Indorama Eleme Petrochemicals Ltd., an entity of the Singapore-based Indorama Group, have signed an MoU that will allow both parties to explore opportunities across Nigeria’s hydrocarbon value chain, as Africa’s […]

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Africa’s refining industry on the path of recovery, shows new Hawilti report


The reopening of some refineries in Africa and the gradual commissioning of new facilities will mark the recovery of the continent’s downstream industry in 2023, according to Hawilti’s African Refineries Watch published today. While sub-Saharan Africa’s refining capacity is still under-utilised at some 40%, recovery is on the horizon with the re-opening of South Africa’s […]

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South Africa: PetroSA seeks partner to reinstate full production at Mossel Bay GTL Refinery


South Africa’s PetroSA has issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) to secure a partner for the development, refurbishment, modification, upgrade, funding and/or operation of its gas-to-liquids (GTL) refinery at Mossel Bay. “PetroSA is planning to reinstate to full production level its Mossel Bay Production Assets which includes the FA Platform and GTL-Refinery (Gas Loop and […]

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Nigeria: Daewoo E&C intends to “fix” both Kaduna and Warri refineries


While in South Korea last week, President Muhammadu Buhari witnessed the signing of a letter of intent (LoI) between NNPC Ltd and Daewoo E&C for the revised strategy to fix the state-owned Kaduna Refinery in northern Nigeria. According to officials, Daewoo E&C intends to complete the Kaduna refinery rehabilitation project by signing the official contract […]

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Cameroon’s SONARA restructures commercial debt with Vitol


Cameroon’s SONARA, which operates Central Africa’s biggest refinery, has reached a deal with oil trader Vitol to restructure its commercial debt. The deal had been in the making for some time as the state-owned refining company seeks to restructure its debt, which amounted to 3% of GDP and 6.6% of total public and publicly-guaranteed debt […]

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How decentralisation can support the expansion of Africa’s refining sector


by Souheil Abboud, Managing Director, VFuels LLC. Africa’s refining capacity has traditionally been concentrated around key hubs in Algeria, Egypt, South Africa and Nigeria. Combined, these four countries represent almost 75% of Africa’s installed refining capacity thanks to large-scale refineries that operate with various levels of reliability. However, Nigeria and South Africa have lost their […]

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In South Sudan, a private company has big ambitions to expand energy infrastructure


Since its establishment in 2012, Trinity Energy has grown into South Sudan’s largest independent energy business. The company is the first local entity to be registered to lift crude oil from South Sudan and has become one of the pillars of the country’s energy security. Its trading arm currently exports South Sudanese oil before re-importing finished […]

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Nigeria: FEED contract awarded for new 100,000 bpd refinery in Port Harcourt


Maire Tecnimont has just announced that its subsidiary Tecnimont has been awarded a new FEED contract by African Refineries Port Harcourt Limited (ARPHL) for a new 100,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in Nigeria. The new plant is expected to be built inside the existing Port Harcourt Refinery complex, where Tecnimont is already rehabilitating the […]

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TechnipEnergies completes Senegal’s refinery expansion project


On June 29th, TechnipEnergies Country Director for Senegal, Franck Pliya, announced the holding of the last Steering Committee meeting of the ACATBS project at the SAR Refinery in Dakar. The contractor had been involved in a significant upgrade and expansion of the refinery over the past months, which culminated in a facility shutdown in Q1 […]

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Tragedy hits Niger Delta as illegal bunkering site explosion kills 100


Over 100 people lost their lives last weekend at an illegal crude oil bunkering site at the Abaezi forest, in the Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of Nigeria’s Imo state. The illegal oil refining depot bordered Nigeria’s Rivers and Imo states and is one of many such sites operated across the Niger Delta by illegal refiners […]

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Eraskon Nigeria breaks ground on new industrial manufacturing complex


During a grand ceremony held in Yenagoa earlier today, Eraskon Nigeria has officially broken ground on its 64,000 litres per day lubricants blending plant at Gbarain in Bayelsa State. The groundbreaking was preceded by a ceremony marking the launch of the company’s new ERASKO GOLD lubricants products line. Both functions were attended by key Nigerian […]

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VFuels to offer renewable energy solutions for African oil & gas assets


VFuels LLC, the American oil and gas engineering, design and fabrication firm that has already delivered several modular process equipment on the continent, has entered into a joint-venture agreement with Earth Technologies to develop and install clean energy infrastructure for African oil & gas assets, including refineries. Earth Tehnologies is a renewable energy company with […]

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Africa’s petroleum retail sector to undergo more M&A activity


As Africa’s petroleum retailers seek to achieve better economies of scale, the sector will continue to experience mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in coming years, according to a new study by pan-African investment research agency Hawilti. Challenging operating and regulatory environments in Africa have already led to the exit of most major international oil marketing […]

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Oryx Energies acquires part Sonacop’s retail network in Benin


Oryx Energies, a provider of energy products and services in Africa, has announced it has taken over part of the retail network of Benin’s national company for the commercialization of petroleum products, Sonacop. As part of the transaction, Oryx Energies Benin has taken over 63 of Sonacop’s service stations. The execution of the new Oryx […]

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Vitol to acquire Vivo Energy’s remaining shares for approximately $2.3bn


Vivo Energy has announced it has reached an agreement on the terms of a recommended cash offer under which Vitol will be acquiring the entire issued and to be issued share capital of Vivo. Vitol will only be acquiring the shares it does not already own in Vivo Energy, via a BidCo, a company indirectly […]

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Ardova Plc completes acquisition of Enyo Retail & Supply Ltd in Nigeria


Nigerian energy and oil marketing company Ardova Plc has announced the completion of its 100% acquisition of Nigerian fuels retailing company Enyo Retail & Supply. Through this transaction, Ardova has grown its fuel retail stations by 95, bringing its total network in Nigeria to 545. The acquisition is part of ongoing consolidation in the Nigerian […]

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Conex Oil & Gas completes acquisition of TotalEnergies’ assets in Liberia and Sierra Leone


In a statement issued earlier today, Conex Oil & Gas has announced taking over with immediate effect Total Liberia Inc. and Total Sierra Leone Ltd. Both entities have been renamed Conex Oil & Gas Liberia and Conex Oil & Gas Sierra Leone. The move follows the signing of agreements with TotalEnergies back in March 2020 […]

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Gabon exposes clear vision on what to do with its natural gas


Gabon is thought to hold anywhere between 3 to 5 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas, although the country remains a small gas producer. To date, most of its gas has remained on the ground or flared – with only small quantities monetised domestically for power generation in Libreville and Port Gentil. But as Gabon […]

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Nigeria: RainOil completes acquisition of majority stake in Eterna Plc


RainOil has completed its acquisition of 63.6% of the shares of Eterna Plc though its investment arms, Preline Ltd (60.9%) and Norsworthy Investments (2.6%). The Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) was executed on August 25th, 2021. The transaction had been reported in Hawilti’s Q3 M&A Watch, available within the Hawilti+ research terminal. The acquisition of […]

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Gabon on the move: what you need to know ahead of the Gabon Oil, Gas & Energy Summit in Libreville this week


Nested in the Gulf of Guinea, Gabon has built itself a reputation of environmental stewardship and sustainable development of its natural resources. The country of less than 2.5m notably hosts Africa’s largest forest elephant population and is covered at 88% by rainforest. Despite being an established offshore hydrocarbons province, Gabon is steadily diversifying away from […]

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Nigeria’s Sahara Group commits $1bn to LPG vessels and infrastructure in Africa


Nigerian energy infrastructure conglomerate, Sahara Group, has announced an investment of $1bn into Africa’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) value chain during the African Refiners and Distribution Association (ARDA) conference 2021 in South Africa this week. “Sahara, through its subsidiary, WAGL Energy Limited is already working towards investing $1 billion to ramp up its LPG fleet […]

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Angola lays first stone for new Barra do Dande Ocean Terminal


Yesterday, Sonangol has officially laid the foundation stone for its landmark Barra do Dande Ocean Terminal (Terminal Oceânico da Barra de Dande, TOBD) in the Bengo Province north of Luanda. The infrastructure project has been in the making since 2013 but delayed several times by years of recession since 2016. It represents a massive step […]

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