Upstream

TechnipFMC foresees between $4.5bn and $7bn of subsea opportunities in Angola, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire over the coming 24 months, according to its latest earnings presentation. Angola Angola will continue to dominate the market in terms of projects’ scope and value, as it has for the past couple of years. The implementation of an enabling […]

Shell still has four major pre-FID options to develop its reserves offshore Nigeria, according to the major’s latest quarterly presentation. These represents the biggest share of the company’s pre-FID options across its global upstream portfolio. Most projects are concentrated on and around the Bonga deep-water field on OML 118, where the production sharing contract (PSC) […]

Coastline Exploration has announced receipt of final authorization to proceed with its exploration programme in Somalia after paying a $7m signature bonus to the Somali Central Bank. The oil & gas independent had announced last February that it had signed seven Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) for deep-water blocks offshore Somalia. “We want the first exploration […]

VAALCO Energy delivered First Oil to the Teli floating, storage, and offloading (FSO) vessel at its Etame Field offshore Gabon on October 18, the company has revealed. The installation of the FSO had been ongoing for several months to replace the previous Petróleo Nautipa FPSO vessel operated by BW Offshore, whose contract expired in September […]

Petralon 54 Ltd has announced that it recently held a meeting with its host and impacted communities around the Dawes Island Field south of Port Harcourt in the Niger Delta. The company officially presented its Petroleum Prospecting License No. 259 (PPL 259) to the Royal Fathers and the people ahead of starting sustained commercial production […]

DNO has announced yesterday the acquisition of Mondoil Enterprises from Oslo-listed RAK Petroleum for a consideration of $117.25m. By acquiring Mondoil Enterprises in an all-share transaction, DNO gains a 33.33% indirect interest in Foxtrot International, operator of the producing block CI-27 and exploration block CI-12 in Côte d’Ivoire. “As DNO targets expansion beyond the Kurdistan […]

Petralon 54 Ltd, a subsidiary of Petralon Energy Ltd, is in active engagement with its host community in the Niger Delta and has commenced technical and operational activities to achieve production at the Dawes Island Field by the end of 2022, the company said today. The move follows the award of the Dawes Island Marginal […]

The Ministry of Hydrocarbons of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has officially opened today a new Bidding Round for 30 blocks across the country. The blocks are spread out across five different basins: Cuvette Central, Coastal Basin, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Kivu and the Albertine Graben. The Bid Round is supported by Xcalibur Multiphysics and […]

Italian major Eni has announced the successful drilling and testing of the Baleine East-1X well within Block CI-802 offshore Côte d’Ivoire. This is the first well to be drilled in the block and targeting the Baleine structure discovered in 2021 in the adjacent Block CI-101. Results from the wells have allowed to increase the volumes […]

In this interview, Director General of The Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone (PDSL), Mr. Foday Mansaray, discusses the announcement of the nation’s newest and most exciting Licensing Round and the potential to explore for oil and gas in Sierra Leone. What is the current state of the 5th Offshore Licensing Round and what can you […]

The Ikike field will be put on production this month, said this morning Victor Bandele, Deputy Managing Director at TotalEnergies EP Nigeria. His remarks were made during the opening of the Nigerian Content Seminar in Abuja, which marks the start of DMG Events’ 21st NOG Conference & Exhibition. The Ikike field is developed as a […]

Earlier this week, Nigeria held a grand ceremony in Abuja to unveil its Host Communities Development Regulations and Petroleum Prospecting Licences (PPLs) under its newly-adopted Petroleum Industry Act (PIA). The regulations are expected to provide a more durable and sustainable framework to engage local communities in the development of the country’s oil and gas sector. […]

In yet another deal within the Orange Basin, Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas has announced its acquisition of another 6.25% in South African block 3B/4B. The company already entered the block earlier this year when it acquired Azinam, who holds a 20% non-operated interest in the license. Eco Oil & Gas is acquiring its additional […]

Nigeria’s daily oil production averaged 1,024,371 barrels of oil last month, according to data by the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC). This marks a new all-time low for sub-Saharan Africa’s largest oil producer, who should be able to produce 2 million bopd and had its OPEC quota for May set at 1.753m bopd. Who […]

Tullow Oil and Capricorn Energy (formerly Cairn Energy) have agreed earlier this week on an all-stock merger deal worth over $800m. The combination of both companies will create one of Africa’s leading independent energy companies, and confirms the strong rise of M&A deals in Africa this year. The deal is likely to be implemented as […]

The Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone officially launched the country’s 5th Petroleum Licensing Round in London today. In total, 63,643km2 of offshore acreage is up for grab across 56 graticular blocks of some 1,360km2 each. A contract area is formed with a minimum of three graticular blocks. The Licensing Round will remain open until September […]

Innoson Oil & Gas, part of Nigeria’s IVM Innoson Group, revealed last week the findings of a third-party evaluation conducted by Ryder Scott Co. on its concession offshore Sierra Leone. According to the American engineering and geological consultants, Innoson Oil & Gas’ blocks could contain up to 8.2 Tcf of gas and 234m barrels of […]

Investing in Nigeria may not be for the faint-hearted, but the country continues to prove times and again that it can be a highly rewarding market. By securing an indirect interest in some of the country’s largest producing deep-water blocks in 2020, Africa Oil Corp. has shown the benefits that come with betting on Nigeria’s […]

LSE-listed Wildcat Petroleum (WCAT) had announced the signing of a Reconnaissance Permit Agreement with the Petroleum Directorate of Sierra Leone (PDSL). The permit grants Wildcat Petroleum non-exclusive rights to conduct reconnaissance operations over 24,000 km2 for a period of six months. The company will notably carry out a desktop study using geophysical and geological data […]

Afentra has officialised its entry in Angola with the signing of Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Sonangol’s upstream subsidiary Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção. The one-year old, AIM-listed independent is acquiring from Sonangol a 20% non-operated interest in the producing Block 3/05 and a 40% non-operated interest in exploration Block 23 for up to $130m, […]