The Gambian President H. E Adama Barrow has appointed Nani Juwara as the country’s new Minister for Energy and Petroleum in a reshuffle on Friday, March 15, 2024, that saw the Petroleum and Energy Minister Abdoulie Jobe moved to the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.
Nani Juwara was the Managing Director of National Water and Electricity Company (NAWEC) before the President elevated him to one of the top Ministries in the West African nation.
As the Managing Director of NAWEC, Nani Juwara spearheaded water supply and power supply expansion and rehabilitated most of the water and electricity infrastructure to improve water and electricity supply to The Gambians.
One of the major projects that NAWEC executed under his tenure is the 23MW solar project which was recently inaugurated by President Adama Barrow.
The Gambians would be expecting Nani Juwara to spearhead the development of the country’s oil and gas sector.
The West African nation holds oil reserves of over three billion barrels.
Nani Juwara (2nd right) in a group photograph with Abdoulie Jobe (left), former Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Kanni Touray and others during the 2023 African Energy Week in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Gambia has been making efforts to attract investors to partner with it to explore its oil resources to finance infrastructure development to improve the lives of The Gambians.
In 2021 and 2022, the country held a licensing round and offered some oil blocks for prospective investors to bid.
Nani Juwara holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from the University of Southern Denmark and a Bachelor’s Degree from Saint Mary’s University Halifax, Canada.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo has nominated Mr Kofi Mocumbi Tagoe, an investment banker with over 20 years of experience, as the new Managing Director of Tema Oil Refinery, state owned premier refinery.
He will take over from Mr Daniel Osei Appiah, who has been acting since last year when Mr Jerry Kofi Hinson was relief from his position as Managing Director over the controversial TOR -Torentco deal.
There has not been industrial harmony at the refinery in recent times due to lack of transparency and openness in the attempt by the Board to secure a partner to revamp the ailing refinery.
The premier refinery has not been able to process any crude for some years.
Currently, it only does storage of petroleum products for BDCs for a fee.
Profile
Kofi Tagoe-Mocumbi is an investment banker with over 20 years of expertise in national and international markets. His portfolio expands into project finance, mortgages, portfolio development, real estate, and overall program development directives.
He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Engineering from Lincoln University and Master of Science in Finance from the University of Missouri- Columbia.
A seasoned entrepreneur with a unique capability of building companies from the ground up. Team player with excellent communication skills, high quality of work, driven and highly self-motivated. Strong negotiating skills, a consensus builder with business acumen.
He’s is the President and CEO of ERA 53 LIMITED a Subsidiary of ERA GROUP. Which is a consulting and financial advisory firm known to implore top to bottom organizational restructuring in the most effective and efficient way.
Kofi Mocumbi’s professional experience spans across oil and gas trade transactions. He also has expertise grounded in receiving extensive engineering experience with programming DSL trunk switching services to the Central Office mainframes at US Sprint.
Mr. Mocumbi has extensive telecommunications, financial services, and advisory expertise background which include executive positions at Sprint, American Express, Fidelity & Trust Bank, and Wells Fargo.
His skill set include risk and market analysis, critical decision making, effective delegation, the ability to manage large organizations with tiered labour force from diverse backgrounds, Excellent time management skills with substantial experience in managing complex financial interventions.
Kofi is also the Executive Chairman of Nutso Products Limited (International Beverage Production Company formed in 2010).
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Two children, ages eight(8) and fourteen (14), were shot dead last Tuesday during protests against repeated power cuts in Kindia city, located east of Guinea’s capital, Conakry.
“Two people were killed and 12 injured, including five members of the security forces,” an anonymous doctor at Kindia hospital told AFP.
Young people carrying stones took to the streets to demand the return of electricity, according to witnesses contacted by AFP, who described a tense situation in the town, where shops were closed. The army was on patrol in several neighborhoods.
Diallo Mamadou Aliou, the brother of the teenager killed on Tuesday denounced the military repression: “I demand that justice.”
“The actions of the military are intolerable,” he said as reported by voaafrica.com.
Guinea, which is poor despite considerable mineral and natural resources, has endured decades of dictatorial rule and suffers fuel shortages and power cuts.
After initial demonstrations on Monday, motorbike taxi drivers joined the movement on Tuesday by honking their horns in discontent.
A general strike last month demanded lower food prices, an end to media censorship and the release of a journalist.
It was the first such move under the ruling junta, which took power in 2021 and has banned demonstrations and muzzled critics.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR), Ghana’s premier refinery, has reinstated two executives of the General Transport, Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU) who were interdicted for disclosing information about the controversial TOR-Torentco deal to the media.
Anthony Koomson resumed work last week while Serwaa Duncan-Williams is yet to resume work, according to energynewsafrica.com’s sources.
This follows a directive by the Energy Minister Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh in a letter dated March 4, 2024, and addressed to the Managing Director Daniel Osei Appiah.
“I am by this letter directing Tema Oil Refinery management to recall the affected union workers to work immediately with no loss of entitlements.
“Any further investigation and actions must be conducted with due process to ensure fairness to all,” a portion of the letter sighted by energynewsafrica.com reads.
It would be recalled that Serwaa Duncan and Anthony Koomson were interdicted by the TOR Board at their 261st sitting on December 13, 2023.
The two executives were issued query letters for allegedly speaking to the media about the Tema Oil Refinery and Torentco Asset Management Limited partnership deal and making some comments that sought to bring the reputation of the refinery into disrepute in October 2023.
The union executives, in response to the queries, denied the claims by the Board.
The national leadership of GTPCWU held a press conference and demanded the reinstatement of the union executives.
The Union threatened a national protest to get the union executives back to work.
The threat caught the attention of the Minister for Energy and invited the aggrieved persons and the Management of TOR to a meeting to resolve the issue.
In a statement issued by the National Chairman of General Transport Petroleum and Chemical Workers Union (GTPCWU) Bernard Owusu, and Iddrisu Fuseini, General Secretary, the union commended the Minister for Energy for his intervention in getting the union executives back to work.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Chairman of Ecowas Regional Electricity Regulatory Authority
(ERERA), Engr. Kokou Laurent Tossou, has given an assurance of ERERAs commitment to gender leadership geared towards the development of the energy sector in West Africa.
Engr. Tossou was addressing participants at the opening of a three-day capacity building workshop on Empowering Women for Leadership in the Energy Sector on March 11, 2024 at the Volta River Authority (VRA) Academy in Akuse in the Eastern Region of Ghana.
Among those in attendance was the Vice President of the VRA Academy, Mr. Kingsley Gyamfi, who also addressed participants at the workshop, which was designed for female staff of ERERA, the West African Power Pool (WAPP) as well as the ECOWAS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE).
Engr. Tossou recalled that ERERA is committed through the Energy Governance Programme in West Africa (AGOSE-AO) to the development of the tools necessary for gender integration in the electricity sector within ECOWAS and thanked all those who contributed to the development of this activity.
He reiterated ERERAs commitment to the promotion of gender mainstreaming and leadership, especially among the national regulatory bodies in ECOWAS Member States and his availability and readiness in relaying any initiative that you would have liked to take to improve your contribution to the development of the regional energy sector.
Engr. Tossou gave the assurance that ERERA, WAPP and ECREEE would continue to collaborate on the promotion of womens leadership roles in the power sector.
The workshop is aimed at developing and fine-tuning the leadership skills of the female staff of the three ECOWAS energy institutions by applying a systematic capacity building intervention, self discovery and evaluation.
In addition, it is to provide a platform of networking opportunities for the female workforce and help improve gender diversity in the power industry.
The workshop was organized in collaboration with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), under the Promotion of a Climate-friendly Electricity Market in the ECOWAS Region (ProCEM II), which was commissioned by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
It was also held within the context of the International Women’s Day.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Kaduna Electric, one of the electricity distribution companies in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, has complied with the capping order by the country’s electricity regulator, NERC.
Kaduna has published the list of customers who have been refunded after being overbilled as directed by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC).
The full list of over 49,000 customers has been uploaded on the company’s website, www.kadunaelectric.com, and published in two national newspapers in compliance with the order.
NERC’s Capping Order directs distribution companies to ensure unmetered customers are not billed beyond a certain threshold.
The Regulator said in the order that capping is aimed at aligning the estimated bills for unmetered customers with the measured consumption of metered customers on the same supply feeder.
In an introductory statement accompanying the list of refunded customers, Kaduna Electric said: “In compliance with the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission’s Order on Non-compliance with Capping of Estimated Bills to unmetered customers for the period of January to September 2023, Kaduna Electric has completed credit adjustment to all affected customers as provided in NERC’s assessment report.
“The affected customers will notice a credit adjustment for the cumulative overbilled amount for the period of January to September 2023 on their February 2024 bills which are being delivered as of now.”
The company’s Head of Corporate Communication, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, said Kaduna Electric is committed to being a disciplined electricity market participant. Hence, it is ready to comply with all regulations and orders as directed by the regulator.
He, however, said it is incumbent on customers to also endeavour to settle their debts for electricity consumed. Not doing so, he said jeopardises the efforts at resuscitating Kaduna Electric.
He reiterated that prompt payment of bills and tolerance to all forms of energy theft is paramount in ensuring the power sector functions effectively.
Ghana’s power distribution company responsible for electricity distribution in the south – Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) – has issued demand notices to 91 hospitals with outstanding bills, warning them of disconnection from the national grid if they fail to settle their debts within 72 hours.
The health facilities, which are in the Greater Accra, Western, Eastern, Volta, Central and Ashanti regions, owe ECG a combined outstanding amount of GH¢261 million.
Some of the health facilities are Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, 37 Military Hospital, and Ridge Hospital in the Greater Accra Region; Komfo Anokye and Manhyia Government hospitals in the Ashanti Region; Ho Teaching Hospital in the Volta Region, and Kibi Government Hospital in the Eastern Region.
This action is part of ECG’s broader strategy to recover customer debts to bolster its operational capacity.
The Ministry of Health has responded to the warning issued by ECG to the 91 hospitals, urging them to settle their outstanding bills within 72 hours or face disconnection.
Mr Isaac Baah Offei, who speaks for the Health Ministry, told Accra-based Adom FM on Wednesday, 13th March 2024, that his outfit was fully aware of the situation and was actively seeking to resolve it.
He said plans were underway to meet with the heads of the hospitals to explore possible solutions, including reconciliation processes.
“Efforts to settle the debts were initiated last year, and meetings are being held with all affected hospitals,” he added.
Mr. Offei acknowledged that some payments had been made but said the outstanding debts must be settled.
Below Are The Hospitals Owing Electricity BillsVolta region Total GHc15, 163,879
Kpeve Government Hospital GHc750, 147.70
Ho Municipal Hospital GHc 1,247,730
Ho Teaching Hospital (3 meters) GHc5,808,989
Hohoe Municipal Hospital GHc2,472, 043
Keta Municipal Hospital GHc410, 983
Ketu South Hospital GHc1, 706,390
Sogakope District Hospital GHc1, 437,822
Worawora Government Hospital GHc1, 329,767
Accra East Region Total GHc66, 643,680.32
37 Military Hospital GHc33, 477,392.71
Police Hospital GHc6, 109,568
Dodowa District Hospital GHc 3,629,966
Pantang Hospital GHc5, 342,310
Lekma Hospital GHc2, 602,464
La General Hospital GHc642,954
University of Ghana Hospital GHc2, 249,767
Achimota Hospital GHc2, 502,589
Kwabenya Hospital GHc10, 086,666
Tema Region Total GHc8, 227,299.48
Community 22 Polyclinic GHc720, 245
Akuse Govt Hspt GHc1, 723,768
Battor Hspt GHc1, 837,613
General Hspt GHc242, 078
Kpone Health Center GHc379, 520
Ministry of Health GHc378, 864
Municipal Health GHc112, 375
Poly Clinic Nungua GHc414, 589
Sege Polyclinic GHc393, 680
Somanya District Hspt GHc1, 352,341
Urban Health GHc672, 222
Accra West Region Total GHc55, 782,569.71
Bortianor Polyclinic GHc442, 468
Korle Bu Teaching Hspt GHc10, 216,075
Nsawam Hspt GHc2, 814,584
Oduman Polyclinic GHc713, 520
Ridge Regional Hspt GHc41, 595,921
Central Region Total GHc21, 313,839.75
Ankaful Psychiatric GHc2, 225,745
Cape Coast Municipal Hspt GHc2, 351,591
Central Regional Hspt (Two meters) GHc7,048,927
District Hospital GHc 1,592,822
Trauma Hospital Winneba GHc1, 418,389
Twifo Praso New Hspt GHc (Two meters) GHc5,826,432
Winneba Govt Hspt GHc849, 929
Eastern Region Total GHc21, 031,322
Abirim Dist Hspt GHc1, 266,455
Government Hspt GHc2, 204,650
Asamankese Hspt GHc1, 202,252
Begoro Govt Hspt GHc987, 753
Ministry of Health GHc1, 289,724
Kibi Govt Hspt (Two meters) GHc2,947,367
Government Hspt GHc6, 941,454
Koforidua SDA Hspt GHc314, 752
Kwahu Govt Hspt GHc1, 879,985
St. Dominic Hspt GHc1, 996,924
Ashanti Region Total GHc50, 045,753.72
Agogo Hspt GHc3, 290,722
Konongo Govt Hspt GHc2, 066,549
Kumawu Dist Hspt GHc217, 879
Mamhya Govt Hspt (Two meters) GHc2,026,944
Mampong Maternity Hspt GHc299, 775
Bekwai Dist Hspt GHc2, 721,858
Government Hspt GHc1, 908,530
Fomena Govt Hspt GHc300, 360
Obuasi Govt Hspt GHc1, 022,440
Atonsu Govt Hspt GHc2, 860,326
Bibiani Govt Hspt GHc1, 279,540
Komfo Anokye Teaching Hspt GHc (Two meters) GHc27,265,226
SDA Hspt Kwadaso GHc506, 361
St. Patrick Hspt Offinso GHc2, 248,319
Suntreso Govt Hspt GHc2, 030,915
Western Region Total GHc22, 312,253
Bogoso Hospital (Two meters) GHc497,828
Takoradi Hspt (Two meters) GHc3,509,295
Tarkwa Govt Hspt (Three meters) GHc9,499,254
Tarkwa Hspt Apinto GHc2, 391,983
Wassa Dunkwa Hspt (Two meters) GHc294,996
Government Hspt (Two meters) GHc1,708,108
Nsuaem Hospital GHc169, 220
Kwasimintim Hospital GHc1, 547,022
Essikado Govt Hspt GHc780,780
Elubo Hspt (Two meters) GHc271,993
Akwantombra Hspt GHc184, 219
The Greater Accra regional office of the PURC through its regular monitoring exercises noticed that, in the month of February, 2024, several consumers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in Accra East and Tema regions, complained about power supply disruptions and negative balances on their prepaid meters.
The Regional office of the Commission visited the affected areas to ascertain the magnitude of the situation and subsequently organized a stakeholder engagement with ECG and the affected consumers.
This was to assist the commission understand the issues, and to help resolve the complaints or take appropriate regulatory actions.
The investigative team ascertained that, ECG has a NURI network of meters for some of its customers mainly within the Accra East and Tema Regions.
These NURI network of meters have both the prepaid and the post-paid mode functions, thus, when the pre-paid mode fails the meter automatically switches to the post-paid mode.
The District Managers of ECG in the affected communities, explained that, the negative balances experienced, only affected consumers who use the NURI network (meters) and that, the negative balance situation was mostly due to failure in communication between the NURI network infrastructure, the meter, the Data Concentration Unit (DCU), and the Server.
The District Managers further indicated that, the NURI network meters have modems installed in them, which store energy consumed by the consumer and other information.
This information, is then communicated from the DCU to the Server for billing purposes with the aid of internet data on the SIM cards.
The affected areas under the Accra East Region of ECG were Roman Ridge, Legon, and Adentan.
It was detected that, the recent major system update on the NURI network (meter), caused some meters to reflect a negative balance on their accounts.
This error occurred as a result of defective modems in the affected meters, which led to a communication failure.
The timely intervention of the PURC, brought relief to some consumers who had negative balances on their accounts.
Most of these consumers were made to offset the negative balances that occurred on their meters and power was subsequently restored without hesitation.
The Commission recommended that the District Managers in Accra East of ECG should ensure regular updates on the NURI network and communicate regularly with their cherished customers.
Source: PURC
BP and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) have suspended talks to buy a 50% stake in Israel’s natural gas producer NewMed, due to uncertainty in the region, the Israeli company said on Wednesday.
In March 2023, BP and the national oil company of one of the leading Middle Eastern oil and gas producers, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), offered to buy a large stake in NewMed in a deal estimated to be worth around $2 billion.
NewMed is the largest shareholder in Israel’s Leviathan natural gas field, which is operated by U.S. supermajor Chevron. Leviathan, with 22.9 TCF of recoverable gas, is the largest natural gas reservoir in the Mediterranean, and one of the largest producing assets in the region, NewMed says.
The company also has a 30% working interest in the Aphrodite natural gas field, located in the exclusive economic zone of Cyprus, with Chevron and Shell as partners with 35% each.
With the deal proposed last year, BP and ADNOC were looking to gain exposure to the vast natural gas reserves in the Eastern Mediterranean.
However, the Hamas attack on Israel in early October and the war that followed have thrown discussions off course.
NewMed’s panel reviewing the offer and the two majors have agreed, “due to the uncertainty created by the external environment, to suspend discussions in relation to the proposed transaction,” the Israeli energy firm said in a filing to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange today.
BP and ADNOC reiterated their interest in the proposed transaction, NewMed added.
“The process will remain suspended until such time as discussions resume or the process is terminated. There can be no certainty that discussions will resume or that an agreement will be reached in the future, nor as to the terms of an agreement should one be reached,” the company noted.
Source: Oilprice.com
Italian oil and gas firm, Eni has announced the successful closure of sale of its participation interest in several upstream permits in Congo to Perenco, after having obtained the approval of relevant authorities.
The transaction is consistent with Eni’s strategy to focus its upstream activities on major developments, and is non-core to the company strategy in Congo, the company said in a statement on March 12,2024.
Eni has been present in Congo for over 50 years, and the country is at the core of Eni’s strategy with regards to the security of supplies and the energy transition initiatives, it said.
To date, Eni is the only company committed to developing Congo’s vast gas resources, in particular through the Congo LNG project, fulfilling the country’s power generation needs while also fuelling LNG exports, supplying new volumes of gas to international markets focusing on Europe, Eni said.
Eni currently supplies gas to the Congo Electric Power Station (CEC), which provides 70% of the country’s electricity production, and is strongly committed to promoting energy transition in the country, including developing agri-feedstock production initiatives destined for biorefining and not in competition with the food supply chain.
Last week, Eni announced major oil and gas discovery offshore Ivory Coast.
The discovery, named Calao, is the second largest in the Ivory Coast, following the Baleine field discovered by Eni in September 2021.
Drilling operations took place approximately 45 km offshore in block CI-205, reaching a depth of 5,000 m in water depths of around 2,200 m.
The well encountered light oil, gas, and condensates in various intervals of Cenomanian age characterised by good to excellent permeability values. Preliminary assessments indicate potential resources ranging between 1 and 1.5 Bboe. Eni operates the block in partnership with Petroci Holding.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
South Africa’s Minister for Electricity, Dr. Kgosientsho Ramokgopa, is confident that his ministry will no longer be needed by the end of the year 2024.
Ramokgopa was speaking at the NinetyOne Annual Infrastructure Forum.
One of the topics of discussion at the Forum is the need for investment in public infrastructure.
President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed Ramokgopa on March 7 last year which means he has been on the job for exactly a year this month.
Ramokgopa says, “For as long as I exist, you know that the problem exists. So I’m a personification of the problem if you know what I am saying. We are doing everything possible to address it.”
“I am more than confident that there will not be a need for this ministry by the end of this year.”
Meanwhile, the President’s speech at the South Africa/Ghana Business Forum at Gallagher Estate in Midrand was disrupted by a power cut.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says government is working hard with other stakeholders to increase energy capacity to end load shedding.
He says the country is on the right track in tackling the problem. “Now we are working with our partners, the business community – and we are all focused on increasing power generation and we have resolved the regulatory framework. We are going to get rid of load shedding, so we are on track.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Aggrieved workers of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, one of the power distribution companies in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, on Tuesday started an indefinite protest of unjust treatment and other pending industrial disputes with the management of the company.
In a letter signed by Comrade Ado Ali, Secretary of Kaduna State Council of National Union of Electricity Employees, it raised concerns that there has been no remittance of pension contribution to over 3000 staff RSA account for over 72 months, non-payment of death benefits to the families of the deceased staff of the company, lack of enablers to company staff (vehicles, ladders, safety wears), lack of proper medical services to staff and seven numbers of wrongly disengaged members over Zaria accident.
The staff on Tuesday held placards and blocked the entrance to the headquarters of the company in the Kaduna State capital, preventing other staff members and customers from gaining access to the premises.
Channel TV reported that the Organising Secretary for North West, NUEE, Ayuba Pukat, said: “We are out here to exercise our right as workers of Kaduna Electric because of so many issues on the ground which have to do with our staff welfare. The pension deducted from our staff was not remitted for over 72 months, and staff are still working. If you go to your pension managers, they will tell you your company did not remit.
“This is a criminal offence, and the licence of Kaduna Electric should be seized. This means that staff are being paid half their salaries, yet the rest is not being remitted to their pension managers.”
“Again, the employment of some Zaria staff members was unlawfully terminated last year as a result of malfunctioning of the power equipment in Zaria, leading to the electrocution of 14 residents in Southern Zaria. The staff were asked to leave without a fair hearing. We are here to express our dissatisfaction to the management staff regarding our welfare.
“We don’t have enough equipment to work, yet we keep getting threats upon threats. They also employed MOPOL to send us out from the premises as we protest, but we won’t leave here until we have registered our grouse,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Head of Corporate Communications, Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, Abdulazeez Abdullahi, described the strike by NUEE as uncalled for and injurious to the health of the company, stating that the management had already engaged the union leaders intending to resolve all pending industrial issues.
He appealed to the workers to reconsider their stance and suspend the strike for all business activities to return to normalcy as they were.
“We woke up this morning to the news that members of NUEE have locked up our offices. We were shocked because there was no need for it. We have a quarterly meeting scheduled for Wednesday. They have told us about the pension remittances, and there is a plan to settle the backlogs,” he said.
“We have a new MD, and he needs time to settle down and then plan on how to gradually offset the historical liabilities. But they chose to do this and have stopped staff and customers from coming in. This is illegal, and we think this is unnecessary. We know the company is not in a good place right now, but the new MD has promised to turn the company. We need all hands to be on deck so that we can forge a way forward for the company.
“This strike action does no good to anyone but some individuals whose motive is still unclear. We urge our esteemed customers to disregard it and go about their dealings with us unhindered,” he concluded.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Oil and gas company BW Energy has started production at the DHBSM-1H well – located in the Hibiscus South Field on the Dussafu license, offshore Gabon – only five months since the discovery was made.
Production currently sits at between 5,000 and 6,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd), with the well expected to recover approximately 6.6 million barrels from around 22 million barrels of oil in place.
“The five-month lead time at Hibiscus South from discovery to first oil is a prime example of our infrastructure-led exploration strategy in action, showing how it can create material value for shareholders,” stated John Hamilton, CEO of independent exploration company and Dussafu license partner, Panoro Energy.
Situated approximately 5km southwest of the existing MaBoMo production facility, the DHBSM-1H well was drilled using the Borr Norve jackup rig to a total depth of 5,960m into Gamba sandstone.
“We are very pleased with the safe and efficient execution of Hibiscus South fast-track development within a few months after making the initial discovery,” stated BW Energy CEO Carl K. Arnet. “This represents a material, low-cost and low-risk expansion of the Dussafu production and reserve base, demonstrating how our phased development strategy provides the flexibility to rapidly unlock significant value.”
Following completion, the Borr Norve jackup rig has commenced drilling operations on the Ruche sidetrack well DRM-3H ST1 on the same license, which forms part of BW Energy’s Hibiscus/Ruche Phase 1 development project.
The Hibiscus/Ruche Phase 1 development project is expected to bring oil production in the Dussafu license up to 40,000 bpd. Oil produced will be transported via pipeline to the BW Adolo FPSO for processing and storage before export to international markets.
“The subsurface at Dussafu Marin has a history of delivering positive results and we are confident that this trend can continue long into the future as we progress towards unlocking its full organic growth potential,” concluded Hamilton.
The initial discovery was made as part of BW Energy’s multi-well exploration program in Gabon.
Source: Energy Capital
OPEC on Tuesday stuck to its forecast for relatively strong growth in global oil demand in 2024 and 2025, and further raised its economic growth forecast for this year saying there was more room for improvement.
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a monthly report, said world oil demand will rise by 2.25 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2024 and by 1.85 million bpd in 2025. Both forecasts were unchanged from last month.
OPEC’s 2024 demand growth forecast is far above that of many other forecasters including the International Energy Agency. OPEC believes oil use will keep rising for the next two decades, while the IEA predicts it will peak by 2030 as the world shifts to cleaner energy.
In the report, OPEC said a “robust dynamic” for economic growth towards the end of 2023 was expected to extend into the first half of 2024 and raised its 2024 economic growth forecast by 0.1 percentage points, following a hike last month.
“While some downside risks persist, a continuation of the expected momentum from the beginning of the year could result in additional upside potential for global economic growth in 2024.” OPEC said in the report.
“The 2024 and 2025 growth trajectories of India, China, as well as the United States, could exceed current expectations.”
The OPEC report also said that OPEC oil production rose by 203,000 bpd in February to 26.57 million bpd led by Nigeria and Libya, despite a new round of voluntary output cuts by the OPEC+ alliance that started in January.
Source: Reuters.com
