Circle Oil has been given receipt of $15million as part of recent special payment distribution by the Egyptian Government. The company said the move had resulted in a significant reduction in the outstanding debt owed to the company.
The Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) has agreed a £55million settlement with the Bodo community. Shell’s Nigerian subsidiary has made the payment in respect of two operational spills in 2008. The SPDC said the compensation will provide an individual payment for those affected who agree to the settlement payment totalling £35million.
Oil and gas exploration firm BG Group received a boost today as it revealed the Egyptian government had paid it £225 million as the state seeks to repay outstanding debts to the energy industry. The group also said it was “working with the government on resolving the outstanding receivable balance” of £592 million. It comes after a year in which Reading-based BG has been dragged down by problems in Egypt as well as the tumbling oil price, and been hit by controversy over pay plans for its new chief executive.
Libyan oil production has fallen below 300,000 barrels a day after Islamist militants shifted attacks to energy facilities including the country’s largest oil export terminal, said Energy Aspects Ltd. Output is the lowest since May and down at least 65% from a recent high of 850,000 barrels a day in October following the assault on the Es Sider terminal, according to the Energy Aspects estimate. Libya holds Africa’s largest oil reserves. The fighting last week marked a turning point in the unrest that followed Muammar Qaddafi’s 42-year rule, according to Energy Aspects and Eurasia Group consultants.
The semi-submersible drilling unit, the Sedco Express, has arrived at the Oyo field in Nigeria. Camac Energy said it had contracted the Transocean Sedco Express to speed up the timing of production tie-in from the Oyo-7 and Oyo-8 development wells.
Libya extinguished fires at three of five oil-storage tanks that started last week at its largest oil port, helping global crude prices to stabilize. Libya is still seeking international assistance because of possible environmental damage, said Ali al-Hasy, a spokesman for the Petroleum Facilities Guard, part of the internationally-recognized government of Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni. Es Sider has tanks with a capacity of 6.2 million barrels of oil, compared with current Libyan output of 352,000 barrels, according to National Oil Corp.
Oil advanced for the first time in three days amid speculation that an escalating conflict in Libya will help ease a global supply surplus that’s driven crude into a bear market. Brent futures rose as much as 1.6% in London. Fires have been extinguished at three of five tanks at Es Sider, Libya’s largest oil port, which were set ablaze after an attack by militants, said Ali al-Hasy, a spokesman for the Petroleum Facilities Guard. Algerian Energy Minister Youcef Yousfi called on the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries to cut output to boost prices.
A farm-out agreement between Chariot Oil and Gas and Woodside has been approved by the Moroccan Authorities. The company made the deal earlier this year with Woodside who committed to pay 100% of the 3D seismic acquisition and processing costs incurred across the licence by Chariot. A spokesman said a substantial part of the funds had been received bringing its estimated cash balance to $52million.
APR Energy said the suspension of operations in Libya will have an effect on its financial performance for the year. The company decided in November to temporarily suspend on going work in the North African country while it awaited final parliamentary ratification of the contract addendum signed by the customer and Ministry of Electricity in July. It said revenues for the year are expected to be $490million, offset by $30million which has arisen from the planned disposal of two turbines in Uruguay.
Fighting in Libya that’s pushed oil production below consumption in the holder of Africa’s largest reserves is a reminder that not all OPEC members are in a position to defend market share by maintaining output. As Iraq plans to boost supplies next year amid repeated pledges by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to keep pumping the same amount of crude, Libya’s National Oil Corp. said output has dropped to a “very low point.” Conflict between the government and Islamist militias has spread to the region of Mellitah, where the country’s fourth-largest oil port is located, after disrupting two other export terminals, according to the state-run company.
Libya’s oil output fell below its own consumption as fighting spread to Mellitah, a region that hosts the country’s fourth largest oil port, the state petroleum company said. National Oil Corp. already this month declared force majeure at two export terminals, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf, after an attempt by Islamist militias to capture them. Force majeure is a legal status that protects a company from liability when it can’t fulfill a contract for reasons beyond its control.
Oil producer Afren has seen a boost in its shares following a preliminary offer from Seplat Petroleum Development. The company’s shares rose 10.5% on the London Stock Exchange to 50.82pence. The company’s shares rose 10.5% on the London Stock Exchange to 50.82pence.
CNOOC’s Nexen unit has shutdown its operations at an oilfield in Yemen due to a security threat. The company made the move because of safety fears related to terrorist group Al Qaeda.
The former head of US security company Blackwater USA, Erik Prince, was hired by South Sudan to help repair damaged oil facilities and boost output cut by a year of civil war. Prince’s Frontier Services Group Ltd. (500), a Hong Kong-listed logistics and transportation company, is being paid 18.7 million euros ($23.3 million) by South Sudan’s Ministry of Petroleum to transport supplies to and perform maintenance on the production facilities at the oil fields, Chief Executive Officer Gregg Smith said. About 30 employees including pilots, engineers and logistics technicians have been using helicopters and airplanes to reach South Sudan’s oil fields since September, Smith said.
Algeria will press ahead with its $90 billion investment plan in the North African country’s oil and gas industry even with crude prices trading near five-year lows, said the head of state-run energy producer Sonatrach. Sonatrach will invest $22 billion in natural-gas field development as part of the $90 billion program for 2015-19, said Sahnoun, the company’s interim chief executive officer, said at the North Africa Oil & Gas Summit conference in Algiers yesterday. Oil prices have declined about 40% from a June peak amid overproduction and slower demand growth. Brent crude ended last week at $69.07 a barrel.
General Electric (GE) and Heirs Holdings (HH) have agreed to expand their business relationship and pursue opportunities in Nigeria's oil and gas sector. The pair have identified an opening in the country's upstream sector and domestic demand for oil and gas in the country. The firms' collaboration was initially focused on the Nigerian power sector and the expansion of Transcorp Ughelli, Nigeria's biggest power station.
Nigeria, Africa’s biggest oil producer, is now using a satellite tracking system in a bid to raise more than $1billion in fines annually for illegal gas flaring. The major oil producer struggles to support the country’s energy needs and fails to even keep the lights on for more than three hours a day in some parts of the country. However, it’s hoped by tracking illegal flaring the country has a better chance of harnessing its gas potential which can eventually feed into supporting Nigeria’s flagging energy security.
Two Anglolan oil giants have today signed an agreement that could enhance the country's presence on the industry map. The chairman of Sonangol and Eni's chief executive have reached a deal to maximise activities and projects in offshore Angola.
Internationally based Sea Trucks has landed a contract for a development in Nigeria. The deal will see the offshore support firm provide subsea installation work in the Okwok Field.
Libya’s National Oil Corp. issued a notice warning its customers not to purchase crude from any other entities in the North African nation, where oil fields have been seized by armed groups and control is split between two feuding governments. “This notice has been issued protectively to make sure that no shipment is done outside National Oil Corp.’s control,” Ahmed Shawki, the company’s head of marketing, said by phone from Tripoli. “NOC is neutral, its main concern is to secure the resources of the Libyan people.” Libya is divided after its internationally recognized government, led by Abdullah al-Thani, sought refuge in the country’s east after Islamist militias took over Tripoli in July. Omar al-Hassi set up a rival government in the capital with the backing of the militants. The country’s largest oil field, Sharara, was seized last week by a group loyal to the Islamists, according to consultant Eurasia Group.
Takeover talks for Salamander Energy are still ongoing, after the board of Ophir Energy confirmed it has sent a letter outlining its vision for a potential deal. Ophir Energy said it there is a “compelling strategic logic” for the two businesses to work together. In a statement the company said a deal would create enhanced operating capability in both Africa and South East Africa.
Irish explorer Falcon Oil and Gas has been awarded a shale gas exploration licence in South Africa’s Karoo Basin. The company announced its application had been approved by the Petroleum Agency of South Africa (PASA). In December 2012, the company announced it would be working exclusively with Chevron Business Development South Africa for a period of five years on jointly obtaining exploration licences.
Branches of companies operating in Angola, Africa’s second-largest crude oil producer, face a new tax on profits sent home to headquarters. The new levy, approved in an Oct. 20 decree by President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, will charge 10 percent when it comes into effect Nov. 19, according to the government gazette. The tax will be cut for a limited time to 5 percent in some cases, it said. Angola is updating tax laws in use since before Portugal ceded independence to the southwest African nation in 1974 to improve revenue, broaden collection and streamline procedures. The government faces a budget crunch this year after crude prices and production plunged.
Iran’s revenue from crude sales, the OPEC member’s biggest export, dropped 30 percent because of the recent decline in global oil prices, according to President Hassan Rouhani. “International conditions are such that the country’s main source of income, i.e. oil revenues, has been cut by some 30 percent,” Rouhani said in remarks to parliament published yesterday on Shana, the Oil Ministry’s news website. “We have to deal with the new conditions and the global economic conditions.”
Eni has announced its third quarter results alongside the discovery of up to one million barrels of oil in the Congo. The company posted its third quarter results, which showed net profit of €1.71billion was down by 57% since the same time last year.