Author Archives: Staff Writer

BP halts output at North Sea ETAP platform after power failure

February 19, 2020 | Company Operations, North Sea & Western Europe, Upstream

London, UK – British multinational oil and gas company, BP  halted production at its ETAP platform, which connects seven oil and gas fields in the British North Sea with the Forties Pipeline System and the CATS gas terminal, after a problem with its power generation system, the company said on Wednesday. It also evacuated 66 of the 134 people working on the platform “We are working to resolve the power generation issue,” BP said in a statement. ETAP’s production is between 30,000 and 35,000 barrels …

Algeria’s Sonatrach eyes partnerships with Exxon Mobil

October 01, 2019 | Algeria, Contracts, Mergers, Acquisitions & JVs

Algiers, Algeria |   –  Algeria’s state-owned Sonatrach held meetings with Exxon Mobil last week to discuss possible partnerships, a Sonatrach statement said on Monday, a week after it said it had talked with America’s Chevron Corporation. Sonatrach gave no further details of the September 25 and 26 meetings but the energy producer has said it wants to boost output to increase revenues after a decline in prices hit its budget. Some 95% of Algeria’s foreign revenue comes from oil and gas sales. Since energy prices …

Nigeria’s Rivers state buys Shell’s stake in Ogoniland oilfield

October 01, 2019 | Asset Acquisitions & Divestitures, Nigeria

Port Harcourt, Nigeria | –  Nigeria’s Rivers state in the Niger Delta region has purchased Royal Dutch Shell’s stake in an oil mining licence in the restive Ogoniland,  the state’s governor said on Monday. The block under licence, OML 11, has been undeveloped for nearly 25 years, since the execution of regional activist Ken Saro-Wiwa under the Nigerian  military government of Sani Abacha. The field is among several onshore assets that Shell had been trying to sell in Nigeria. Talks with at least one potential …

Uganda set to miss 2022 oil production deadline

October 01, 2019 | Company Operations, Development / Production, Uganda

London, UK | – French multinational oil giant Total E&P’s decision to suspend all oil activities in Uganda after Tullow Oil’s failure to sell a stake of its interests will delay Uganda’s plans of producing first oil, hurting the country’s position of meeting some of its debt obligations, reports the Observer. Uganda has racked up a pile of debts – such as the construction of roads and power plants – in the hope that oil money would flow quickly so that the country can service …

Tullow founder Aidan Heavey secures $1bln for new oil and gas venture

October 01, 2019 | Budget & Investment, West Africa

Boru Energy to headed by Heavey and former Tullow colleague Tom Hickey and will target assets in Africa London, UK |  Former Tullow Oil senior executives Aidan Heavey and Tom Hickey have secured $1 billion (€920 million) in backing from US investment giant Carlyle for a new oil and gas venture in West Africa to be called Boru Energy. The company will target acquisitions of “primarily non-operated interests” in oil and gas assets across several sub-Saharan African countries  Irish Times reports. Mr Heavey, who stepped down as chairman of Tullow – the exploration company …

Nigeria will cut crude oil output to conform to OPEC target

October 01, 2019 | Nigeria, OPEC

Fujairah, United Arab Emirates | – Nigeria will make cuts to its crude oil output to comply with OPEC output targets, Mele Kolo Kyari of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) said on Tuesday. Nigeria’s September crude oil and condensate output was 2.1-2.2 million barrels per day (bpd), the director of its state oil company said on Tuesday. “We will (cut) across the assets. The OPEC quota (is) on crude production only, not on condensate, so it doesn’t affect the condensate,” he told reporters at …

Iran building $1.8 bln oil pipeline to terminal outside Gulf

October 01, 2019 | Middle East, Terminals & Storage

Dubai, United Arab Emirates | –  Iran is building a $1.8 billion oil pipeline to its port of Jask outside the mouth of the Gulf, the country’s oil minister said, as part of plans to protect its exports against potential problems in the region and to boost shipments of Caspian oil. Iran has been planning since at least 2012 to set up the terminal on the Gulf of Oman, just outside the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran has threatened to block the vital Gulf oil shipping route …

IPO for South African fuel giant Engen planned for 2020

October 01, 2019 | Downstream, Refining & Processing, South Africa

London, UK | – Petroliam Nasional BHd and its South African partners plan to conduct an initial public offering in their fuel retailer Engen to fund the upgrade of a refinery in the coastal city of Durban and to expand its network of gas stations. A yet to be decided amount of shares in the company, which is South Africa’s biggest fuel retailer, will likely be sold on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in the first half of next year, according to people familiar with the …