Upstream

Private Nigerian trading house Beluga Energy has signed a binding Heads of Agreement with Tower Resources Cameroon last month to acquire a 49% non-operating working interest in the Thali production sharing contract (PSC) offshore Cameroon. As operator, Tower Resources had been looking for a partner for some time in order to drill the NJOM-3 well. […]

It took almost two decades, two historic crashes in commodity prices and two recessions for Nigeria to finally adopt its new Petroleum Industry Bill. Following its passing at both chambers of Parliament in July, the bill was officially signed into law by President Buhari today. The bill is expected to provide much-needed regulatory certainty for […]

Heirs Holdings and its affiliates Transcorp announced at the start of this year a transformative acquisition of a 45% participating interest in OML 17 from the Shell Petroleum Development Co. (SPDC) joint-venture. The transaction remains one of the largest oil & gas financings in Africa with a financing component of $1.1bn. Seven months later, new […]

Italian major Eni has announced this month a major light oil discovery (40° API) at its Baleine-1X exploration well in block CI-101 offshore Côte d’Ivoire. The company had signed the contract for the block’s license back in March 2017 and operates it with a 90% interest. This marks the third oil discovery by the company […]

By and large, 2021 has been a missed opportunity for African oil producers. While the continent’s hydrocarbons sector yielded several discoveries and Nigeria finally signed its landmark Petroleum Industry Bill into law, decreasing output across the board means that African producers have not maximised benefits from the strong rebound in commodity prices. This is particularly […]

Angolan junior Sociedade Petrolífera Angolana (SOMOIL) has contracted the FALCON 1000HP drilling rig for drilling activities at the FS and FST license onshore Angola. Operations will last about three years and will mostly focus on workover and wells repair along with the re-entry of existing wells and the drilling and completion of new wells. In […]

Maersk Supply Service has just been awarded a contract by the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (COTCO) for Phase 2 of the mooring system maintenance project on the Kome-Kribi 1 FSO (Kome-Kribi 1 Marine Terminal) offshore Douala. The marine terminal forms the last part of the 1,070km Chad-Cameroon Oil Export Pipeline that evacuates Chad’s oil to […]

BOURBON has announced that it has been selected by Shell to provide fully integrated logistics solutions to support its upcoming deepwater offshore exploration campaigns in Namibia and Sao Tomé. Last month, Shell had selected the Valaris DS-10 drillship to drill in PEL 39 offshore Namibia and Block 6 in Sao Tomé. BOURBON’s package contract includes […]