Uganda: EACOP Opens Office In Masaka City To Address Project-Related Challenges
The East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) has said it will use the newly opened liaison office in Masaka City to solve existing challenges and grievances among project affected persons in the pipeline districts of Sembabule, Lwengo, Rakai, Kyotera and surrounding areas.
According to the Managing Director of EACOP, Mr John Bosco Habumugisha, whereas the office will seek to support implementation of the land acquisition process for the pipeline’s right of way in both Uganda and Tanzania, it will also enhance extensive engagement between EACOP and other stakeholders along the pipeline.
“EACOP project is committed to a meaningful engagement with all its stakeholders based on principles of participation, respect for human rights, non-discrimination, empowerment, transparency and accountability and this office is here to realise the above principles,” he said in an address at the opening of the office as carried by Monitor Newspaper.
Mr Habumugisha also indicated that the process of acquiring land for the main right of way involves extensive engagement with all stakeholders, which therefore requires EACOP to create a channel through which its services can easily be accessed.
In Uganda, the pipeline, which is expected to be 296 kilometres long, will traverse 10 districts and 25 sub-counties, before crossing into Tanzania, where it will cover 1,147 kilometres in eight regions and 25 districts.
Ms Stella Amonyi, the EACOP communication lead, said Masaka offers a strategic location that connects the pipeline districts of Sembabule, Lwengo, Rakai and Kyotera and will, therefore, enable stakeholders to have easy access to information and comprehensive understanding of project activities.
The pipeline right of way required for the construction phase is 30 metres wide, which, therefore, is expected to leave at least 3,648 project affected persons.
The pipeline route has already been designed after extensive studies that integrated various technical, geographical, environmental and land usage constraints.
Mr Achiles Mawanda, the Masaka City deputy mayor, said EACOP will present opportunities as well as bridging the communication gap that has made a number of people develop a biased view about the project.
“We [people on Masaka region] are optimistic. Already we have benefited with a number of our children getting sponsored by EACOP in technical institutions and now more opportunities are coming through the liaison office,” he said.
The Masaka City liaison office will mainly serve stakeholders in the pipeline districts of Sembabule, Lwengo, Rakai and Kyotera, among others.
Chevron Predicts 50% Increase In Venezuelan Oil Production In 2023
Chevron Corp’s oil production in Venezuela has reached 100,000 bpd and could rise 50% this year, Chief Executive Officer Mike Wirth said in an earnings call Friday.
The U.S. oil major operates three projects in the country along with state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA.
Since U.S. President Joe Biden eased sanctions on Venezuela last year, Chevron has started lifting so much crude from the country that it’s had to put 600,000 bbl of it in storage in the Bahamas this month.
Chevron is also shipping some of the oil to its U.S. refineries.
But Wirth cautioned that the company’s operations in the sanctions-hit nation depend on waivers from the U.S. government. “It’s not really a negotiation,” he said. “It’s their decision.”
Source: Bloomberg
U.S. Seizes Iranian Oil From Tanker
The United States recently confiscated a cargo of Iranian crude oil from a tanker at sea, according to a maritime security company, indicating that the seizure pre-dated Iran’s move to seize Chevron’s cargo of crude oil on Thursday off the coast of Oman.
On Thursday, a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker carrying crude oil destined for Chevron was seized by the Iranian Navy, according to the U.S. Navy.
According to Tehran, the tanker had been involved in a collision with an Iranian vessel in the Gulf of Oman, resulting in Iranian crew member injuries, with several missing.
Iran also said that the tanker ignored eight hours’ worth of radio calls following the collision.
Iran said it was taking the Suezmax tanker back to Iran for investigation.
The U.S. Navy, however, accused Iran of interfering with navigational rights in international waters, referring to the incident as a “threat to maritime security and the global economy.”
On Friday, new information surfaced from maritime security company Ambrey, which alleged that Iran’s motive for seizing Chevron’s load of crude oil was in retaliation for the U.S. seizure that took place not even five days prior.
“Both tankers were Suezmax-sized. Iran has previously responded tit-for-tat following seizures of Iranian oil cargo,” Ambrey said in a note to clients, according to the Jerusalem Post.
Sources familiar with the matter said that the United States seized a Marshall Islands tanker Suez Rajan after obtaining a court order to do so. The tanker’s last known position was near southern Africa.
This isn’t the first time the global energy markets have seen a spat between the United States and Iran over seized oil tankers.
In 2019, the Iranian National Guard Corps seized a British oil tanker, the Stena Impera, for allegedly violating maritime law. In 2020, Iran seized a Liberian-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz, although it let it go.
The United States has also participated in the oil seizure squabble, seizing an Iranian oil cargo last May near Greece.
Source:Oilprice.com
Ghana Most Likely To Partner France For First Nuclear Power Plant
Ghana is mostly likely to partner France for its first nuclear power plant, energynewsafrica.com can report.
Currently, France operates 56 nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 61,370MWe while one reactor is under construction with a capacity of 1,630MWe.
Earlier this week, Ghana’s Minister for Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and some officials of Nuclear Power Ghana met with senior officials of French Electricity and Nuclear Power Company for discussions on the project.
In 2021, Ghana’s agency spearheading the nuclear power agenda, Nuclear Power Ghana, through the Ministry of Energy, issued a Request for Information (RFI) to six vendor countries namely; China, India, Russia, USA, South Korea and France.
The RFI sought both technical, financial and contractual information from the vendor countries regarding the technology they intend to deploy to Ghana.
Five out of the six countries responded including France.
In a Facebook post after meeting the officials of French Electricity and Nuclear Power Company, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh wrote: “Government continues to deepen its efforts at including nuclear energy in our generation mix in the medium-to-long-term.
“It is for this reason that yesterday, I met senior officials of the French Electricity and Nuclear Power Company. Discussions aimed at partnering with the company; a leading name in the nuclear power space in the context of Ghana’s nuclear power development.”
According to him, Ghana remains committed to its nuclear energy prospects, adding, “I do not doubt that a potential marriage between Ghana and any of its partners will advance this cause fully, as we work collectively to achieve a dependable and sustainable energy to support economic growth.”
Ghana is at the second phase of its nuclear programme and hopes to construct the first nuclear power plant by 2030.
This portal cannot tell for now the size of the reactor Ghana has decided but what Dr Yamoah, CEO of Nuclear Power Ghana, told this portal in 2021 is that the size of the reactors proposed by the vendors ranges from 700MWe to 1400MWe for large reactors and 50MWe to 300MWe for small modular reactors.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
In a Facebook post after meeting the officials of French Electricity and Nuclear Power Company, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh wrote: “Government continues to deepen its efforts at including nuclear energy in our generation mix in the medium-to-long-term.
“It is for this reason that yesterday, I met senior officials of the French Electricity and Nuclear Power Company. Discussions aimed at partnering with the company; a leading name in the nuclear power space in the context of Ghana’s nuclear power development.”
According to him, Ghana remains committed to its nuclear energy prospects, adding, “I do not doubt that a potential marriage between Ghana and any of its partners will advance this cause fully, as we work collectively to achieve a dependable and sustainable energy to support economic growth.”
Ghana is at the second phase of its nuclear programme and hopes to construct the first nuclear power plant by 2030.
This portal cannot tell for now the size of the reactor Ghana has decided but what Dr Yamoah, CEO of Nuclear Power Ghana, told this portal in 2021 is that the size of the reactors proposed by the vendors ranges from 700MWe to 1400MWe for large reactors and 50MWe to 300MWe for small modular reactors.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com Exclusive Photos From VRA’s Creativity And Innovation Day
On Wednesday, April 26, 2023, Volta River Authority (VRA) celebrated Creativity And Innovation Day as part of its 62nd Anniversary celebrations.
Energynewsafrica.com brings you exclusive photos from the celebrations.
Ghana: VRA Celebrates Creativity And Innovation Day With Awards
Ghana’s largest state power generation company, Volta River Authority (VRA) has celebrated the Creativity and Innovation Day instituted in the company and awarded some staff who generated creative ideas for the sustainability of the company’s operations in the face of energy transition.
The Creativity and Innovation Day was instituted in VRA in April 2022 by the CEO, Ing Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa, as part of the Authority’s anniversary celebrations.
It began with the setting up of a 14-member Creative and Innovation Committee.
Giving an overview of the activities that had taken place since the inauguration of the Committee on April 26, 2022, Dr. Stella Agyenim Boateng, an Advisor to the CEO of VRA, said the Committee organised road shows at all VRA work locations to create awareness, carry out sensitisation exercises and educated staff on the need to embrace creativity and innovation as a culture, build the capacity of the Committee members, held webinars on topics such as creativity and innovation, future of artificial intelligence in business; building resilient cyber security environment, created a link to solicit innovative ideas from staff and held departmental day exhibition of ideas and concluded it with a panel discussion on creativity and innovation.
She explained that 67 ideas were received and ranked and ten top ideas were recognised with various awards.
Denni Anyomi was crowned the overall winner and received a plaque. He would also be sponsored to travel to Dubai for some days.
The 2nd and 3rd winners also received plaques and would travel to Rwanda and Benin to understudy for a few days.
The rest received plaques and cash to appreciate their innovative and creative ideas.
Delivering a speech, the Chief Executive Officer of VRA, Mr. Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa noted that the goal of growing the Authority is dependent on the symbiotic relationship between their sustainability plan, overarching corporate strategy and creativity and innovation.
He said it is for these reasons that the Authority, last year, initiated ‘Creativity and Innovation Day’ as part of its anniversary celebrations.
He said the need for creative thinking has become pertinent looking at the current state of the energy industry.
“It is very clear that the old ways and conventional methods of working or managing organisations are no longer effective. What we need is fresh and unique ideas that provide novel approaches and solutions to the way we carry out our business,” he said.
He noted that there is a paradigm shift in the energy industry, stating that renewable energy sources are displacing conventional energy sources.
“We must keep creativity and innovation at the forefront of our business to build new markets and increase competitiveness. We must develop new partnerships and relationships, cut down the turnaround time and increase profitability as every private sector institution does,” he urged the staff.
The Board Chairman of VRA, Mr Kofi Tutu Agyare charged the management to ensure that creative and innovative ideas received from the staff are implemented.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Delivering a speech, the Chief Executive Officer of VRA, Mr. Emmanuel Antwi-Darkwa noted that the goal of growing the Authority is dependent on the symbiotic relationship between their sustainability plan, overarching corporate strategy and creativity and innovation.
He said it is for these reasons that the Authority, last year, initiated ‘Creativity and Innovation Day’ as part of its anniversary celebrations.
He said the need for creative thinking has become pertinent looking at the current state of the energy industry.
“It is very clear that the old ways and conventional methods of working or managing organisations are no longer effective. What we need is fresh and unique ideas that provide novel approaches and solutions to the way we carry out our business,” he said.
He noted that there is a paradigm shift in the energy industry, stating that renewable energy sources are displacing conventional energy sources.
“We must keep creativity and innovation at the forefront of our business to build new markets and increase competitiveness. We must develop new partnerships and relationships, cut down the turnaround time and increase profitability as every private sector institution does,” he urged the staff.
The Board Chairman of VRA, Mr Kofi Tutu Agyare charged the management to ensure that creative and innovative ideas received from the staff are implemented.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com Ghana: BOST Offers Gh¢1.5Million Scholarship To 50 Students Pursuing Engineering Course
Ghana’s strategic fuel stock-keeping company, Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company Limited (BOST) has signed a Memorandum Of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Education (MoE) to provide Gh¢1.5 million educational scholarships to fifty needy but brilliant students from communities impacted by its operations across the West African nation.
The scholarship package, which is for four years, will cover tuition fees, accommodation, monthly subsistence allowance, transportation costs to school and back home for each academic term, learning materials (laptops and textbooks), and educational tours for each of the 50 beneficiary students.
The 50 students are already enrolled and currently enjoying the scholarship package at the University of Mines and Technology in Tarkwa in the Western Region.
At a short ceremony at the head office of BOST in Accra, Wednesday, the Head of Legal and General Counsel at BOST, Mrs Harriet Amoah, who spoke on behalf of the Managing Director, Mr Edwin Provençal, said that in December 2021, BOST received a formal request from the Ministry of Education to partner it to provide scholarships for Engineering students in the country.
The Ministry’s proposal, she said was aimed at collaborating with seven public universities offering Engineering and Computer Sciences.
She said in line with the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy on education, BOST accepted the Ministry of Education’s proposal but insisted that candidates be selected from communities impacted by BOST operations.
Mrs Amoah disclosed that the 50 candidates were selected from the Kpone-Katamanso and Shai-Osudoku Districts from the Greater Accra Region, Lower Manya and Asuogyaman Districts in the Eastern Region, the Kaase Municipality from the Ashanti Region, Central Gonja District from the Savanna Region, Savelugu District from the Northern Region, West Mamprugu District from the North-East Region and the Bolgatanga Municipality from the Upper East Region.
She said BOST has either petroleum pipelines passing through these districts or has tank farms sited there.
The Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, who is the brain behind the MoE’s Engineering Scholarship programme, thanked the management of BOST for being a good corporate citizen.
He was delighted that BOST has responded positively and it is making a significant contribution towards national development.
He was hopeful that other corporate entities in the country would follow BOST’s example.
The Ministry of Education is hoping to get, at least, 2,000 students trained in engineering.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Kosmos Energy Appoints Three New Board Of Directors
Kosmos Energy Ltd, a US-based full-cycle deepwater independent oil and gas exploration and production company has appointed three new Board of Directors, effective April 25, 2023.
The new Board members are Ms. Maria Moræus Hanssen, Sir John Grant, and Mr. J. Mike Stice.
The Company also announced today that Sir Richard Dearlove has informed the Company he will not seek re-election to the Board at the end of his current term.
Sir Richard has served on the Board with distinction since 2012.
“Sir Richard has been instrumental in helping Kosmos navigate an increasingly complex world. We are grateful for his significant contributions as Kosmos has transformed from a frontier explorer into a full-cycle deepwater exploration and production company with diversified production, world-class LNG developments, and infrastructure-led exploration. I have always valued Sir Richard’s sound judgment and wise counsel.
“I would also like to welcome Maria, John, and Mike as new Directors. Collectively, they bring a diverse set of skills and a wide range of relevant experiences to the Board, particularly with respect to international operations, natural gas and LNG projects and government relations. I look forward to working with each of them as we focus on the delivery of the Company’s distinctive strategy,” Andrew G. Inglis, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer in a statement issued by Kosmos Energy.
Ms. Maria Moræus Hanssen joins the Board with more than 30 years of experience in the upstream energy industry, including as deputy chief executive officer and chief operating officer of Wintershall Dea GmbH, a Germany-based oil and gas producer, from May 2019 to December 2019, and, prior to its merger with Wintershall Dea GmbH, as Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Management Board of DEA Deutsche Erdoel AG (DEA) from January 2018 until April 2019.
Sir John Grant joins the Board with decades of experience working at the highest levels of government, having served in the British Foreign Service from 1976 to 2007 during which time he held posts in Stockholm, Moscow, and Brussels, where he was the UK’s Permanent Representative to the European Union from 2003 to 2007. He also has extensive experience in the energy and mining sectors where he most recently served as Vice President of International Government Relations at Anadarko Petroleum Corporation from October 2016 until his retirement in 2019 and prior to that where he served as Executive Vice-President of Policy and Corporate Affairs at BG Group.
Mr. J. Mike Stice joins the Board with a career that spans more than 40 years in the upstream and midstream gas businesses, including senior roles at Conoco and ConocoPhillips where he served as President of Conoco Asia Pacific Ltd., President of Conoco Energy Solutions, and President of ConocoPhillips Qatar. His most recent industry role was Chief Executive Officer of Access Midstream Partners L.P. (formerly known as Chesapeake Midstream Partners, L.P.) from 2009 until his retirement in 2014. Mr. Stice is currently serving as a Director of Marathon Petroleum Corporation and MPLX GP LLC and is a professor at the University of Oklahoma, where until recently he also served as Dean of the Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Mozambique: President Nyusi Greenlights $20 Billion TotalEnergies LNG Project
It is now safe for TotalEnergies to restart work on the $20-billion Mozambique LNG project, Mozambique’s President Filipe Nyusi said on Wednesday, but the French supermajor says the decision to resume construction is up to all shareholders in the venture.
“The working environment and security in northern Mozambique makes it possible for TotalEnergies to resume its activities any time,” Nyusi said today at an energy conference in Mozambique’s capital city of Maputo, as carried by Reuters.
TotalEnergies holds a 26.5% stake in the LNG project, which was put on hold in 2021 following Islamist militant attacks in towns close to the site.
The project site is close to Palma in the Cabo Delgado province, where Islamic State-affiliated militants have been active for a few years. In the spring of 2021, Islamic State-affiliated militants raided Palma in attacks that left dozens of people killed.
“The restart is a decision of Mozambique LNG, not a decision of TotalEnergies, which only owns 26.5% of the project. Given the context, the decision will have to be unanimous and TotalEnergies’ position is that it is appropriate to take the time to have the expected assurances before considering a possible restart,” TotalEnergies spokesperson Stephanie Platat told Reuters on Wednesday.
The Mozambique LNG project is not expected to start operations until 2027 at the earliest, even if TotalEnergies quickly decides to lift the force majeure on the works and proceed with development, Stephane Le Galles, project director at TotalEnergies, told Bloomberg last month while on a visit to the construction site in northeastern Mozambique.
“From the time we restart to production, we need another four years to build the facility,” Le Galles said.
In February, TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanné visited Cabo Delgado and entrusted Jean-Christophe Rufin, an expert in humanitarian action and human rights, with an independent mission to assess the humanitarian situation in the province.
TotalEnergies has yet to decide when to resume the project, with several conditions needed for a positive decision, Le Galles told Bloomberg last month. Those include the same project costs, an improved security situation, Mozambique government officials returning to the towns of Palma and Mocimboa da Praia, and an assessment of the human rights conditions in the Cabo Delgado province.
Source:Oilprice.com
Ghana Gas To Takeover Operations Of Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company Limited
Ghana’s National Gas Company (GNGC) will soon take over the operations of the Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company Limited (GCMCL), energynewsafrica.com can confirm.
This is because President Nana Akufo-Addo has approved the proposal by Ghana Gas to acquire GCMCL, a source at Ghana Gas confirmed to this portal.
According to a report filed by citinewsroom.com, Ghana’s seat of Government, Jubilee House, wrote a letter on April 18, 2023, to the new Managing Director of GCMCL, informing her about the new plan.
“Concerning your correspondence dated 24th March 2023, bearing on the above-mentioned subject matter, I write to inform you that the President of the Republic has approved the acquisition of Ghana Cylinder Manufacturing Company Limited (GCMC) by the Ghana National Gas Company (GNGC),” part of the letter said as quoted by Citinewsroom.com.
GCMCL was recently the subject of media discussion after the resignation of the immediate past Managing Director, Madam Frances Awurabena Essiam.
She granted interviews on several TV and radio stations and accused the Energy Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, of interfering in her work, hence, her decision to resign.
She claimed that her outfit had discussed a partnership agreement with Ghana Gas and went ahead to acquire 16 acres of land for the establishment of a new cylinder manufacturing plant to take advantage of the government cylinder recirculation model programme.
She, however, alleged that the sector minister was not in favour of Ghana Gas and preferred another company.
It is the expectation of the about 50 workers that the company would witness a turnaround as Ghana Gas Company is taking over.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
African Nations Are Adopting Ghana’s Electrical Wiring Programme—Amonoo-Neizer
Ghana’s successful implementation of the electrical wiring programme has attracted some African nations to adopt it and implement the same in their respective countries, Executive Secretary of Energy Commission, Rev. Oscar Amonoo-Neizer, has revealed.
Ghana passed the Electrical Wiring Regulations, 2011(L.I.2008) and began implementation in 2012.
Since the passage of the LI 2008, the Energy Commission, which is the implementation agency, trained and certified over 14,000 electrical wiring practitioners.
These certified electrical wiring practitioners are now called certified electrical wiring professionals.
Speaking at the launch of the 10th anniversary of the Electrical Wiring Programme in Accra recently, the Executive Secretary of the Energy Commission, Ing Oscar Amonoo-Neizer hailed the implementation of the programme, stating that other African nations are emulating Ghana.
“This programme of ours has attracted many other regulators in Africa to come and learn from us. And currently, as I speak, there are countries like Liberia and Sierra Leone who are trying to adopt the same thing we have done because they have been able to see the successes that we have chalked by the LI being passed,” he said.
Commenting on the programme, the Deputy Minister for Energy, Herbert Krapa noted that the days when electrical wiring practitioners used crude methods to test their work, due to expensive electrical wiring test instruments, are fast fading.
He said the Commission’s negotiated discount scheme on such instruments is making it possible every day for completed wiring works to be tested more professionally.
“The Ministry of Energy will continue to work together with you and all relevant stakeholders in providing the necessary leadership to deepen the Commission’s mandate in this direction,” he said.
A report by the Ghana National Fire Service shows that the fire outbreak associated with poor electrical wiring has been minimised since the implementation of the programme.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Create Structures To Make Energy Sector Regulatory Institutions Autonomous—AfDB
The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group is advocating for the creation of structures that would make Energy Sector Regulatory institutions autonomous instead of their current status which gives room for interference by some stakeholders.
Speaking in Accra, capital of Ghana, last Thursday, at the 2nd Regulatory Conversation organised by the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC), Mr. Wale Shonibare, Director for Energy Financial Solutions, Policy & Regulations at African Development Bank Group noted that regulators in Africa are susceptible to influence from governments and infiltration from stakeholders, especially dominant state-owned vertical utilities that have, in most cases, existed years before the establishment of their regulatory institution.
He said these stakeholders often influence the decisions and actions of regulators.
“This influence on regulators originates from situations where the government appoints (or dismisses) commissioners and CEOs of regulatory entities and allocates or approves budgets to fund regulatory operations.
“In about 95% of countries assessed by the Electricity Regulatory Index, the government appoints (and dismisses) CEOs and Board members of regulatory agencies, in some cases, with no clear term of office, thus, exposing them to the vagaries of the political cycle. This gives room for regulatory interference by the government,” he said.
He continued that in over 70 per cent of ERI countries surveyed, there are no laws in the primary legislation that prohibit the commissioners or CEOs of regulatory institutions from accepting employment in the regulated utility company immediately after the end of their term in office (not even with cooling off periods).
To address the issue, Mr. Wale Shonibare said efforts should be directed at harnessing the synergies between regulators and policymakers while safeguarding the decision-making independence of the regulator through appropriate legislation.
He said sustainable funding source for regulatory activities (such as licence fees and regulatory levies) is also fundamental to regulatory independence to ensure that regulators do not have to rely too much on government subvention.
Mr Shonibare commended PURC for the tremendous progress it has made in the regulatory landscape of Ghana and Africa.
He said AfDB is proud to have PURC as one of its key partners and commits to continue collaborating with PURC on regulatory initiatives and dialogue.
According to him, the Bank has been following with keen interest, in regulatory developments and trends in Ghana and acknowledged some important initiatives by PURC that are pushing the frontiers of good regulatory practice.
He said these initiatives include the recent establishment of the Centre of Excellence for Electricity Regulation in collaboration with the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), the publication of the rationale behind tariff setting, the publication of the utility performance index and the Publication of the PPA register among others.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Europe Looks To Turn North Sea Into Green Energy Hub
The leaders of some of Europe’s biggest economies are set to pledge to turn the North Sea into an offshore wind, hydrogen, and carbon capture energy hub.
The heads of state and government of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, Ireland, Norway, and the United Kingdom are meeting on Monday for the second edition of the North Sea Summit in the Belgian city of Ostend.
The summit is also attended by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the EU Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson.
The summit by some of the EU’s biggest economies and allies Norway and the UK is expected to pledge a combined 120 gigawatts (GW) of North Sea offshore wind capacity by 2030, according to a draft of the leaders’ communique seen by Reuters.
The offshore wind goal for 2050 would be set at 300 GW, compared to the current installed capacity of 25 GW.
“In response to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine and attempts of energy blackmail against Europe we will accelerate our efforts to reduce fossil fuel consumption as well as dependence on fossil fuel imports,” according to the draft statement Reuters has seen.
The leaders will also pledge to work together on carbon capture and storage (CCS) and hydrogen projects in the North Sea.
Separately, the EU and Norway signed today a new EU-Norway Green Alliance to cooperate on fighting climate change and boosting clean energy production, including by focusing on hydrogen and offshore renewable energy.
Early this year, Norway’s energy major Equinor and Germany’s RWE agreed to work together to develop large-scale value chains for low-carbon hydrogen.
The North Sea has the potential to become the site of massive offshore hydrogen production from offshore wind and a hydrogen pipeline network connecting northwest European countries, a study by consultancy DNV showed last month.
Source: Oilprice.com
Nigeria: Buhari Touts PIA As Nigeria’s Second Biggest Achievement In Energy Sector
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has described the passage of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) as the second biggest achievement of the country’s energy sector.
“The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) remains our second biggest achievement in the energy sector. For decades, we were told that because of various vested interest, it would be nearly impossible to pass the bill but we made it happen,” Buhari said.
Buhari said this in a speech read for him by Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), at the opening of the just ended Nigeria International Energy Summit (NIES).
The President highlighted the feats of his administration in the energy sector, noting that he had documented them properly for the future.
The PIA was signed into law in August 2021.
“Our perspectives have provided the incoming government the tools to guide Nigerians’ energy future. I enjoin industry stakeholders to give the incoming administration the support and cooperation I received from you,” he said.
“We ensured there’s an adaptive framework for the indigenous companies to take advantage of the investment by the international oil companies.
“This has ensured that the indigenous companies grew there capacity tremendously and they are now considered for about five per cent of national oil and gas production which has led to an increase from two per cent in 2010.”
According to the President, energy would remain the top priority of his administration till his last day in office.
“The first task we combated was the issue of funding and sanitising the oil and gas sector. We then proceeded to exit the Federal Government from joint registrar cash go-funding,” Buhari said.
“This freed the Federal Government from the shoes of funding the oil sector,” he concluded.
In his speech at the event, Mele Kyari, NNPC’s group Chief Executive Officer, said the company was investing in critical projects such as the Ajaokuta-Abuja-Kano (AKK) gas pipeline and the OB3 gas interconnector to support five billion standard cubic feet per day (bscf/d) of domestic gas utilisation.
He said the national oil company is also investing in five gigawatts of power generating capacity by developing power plant projects along the AKK pipeline corridor and across the country to complement the existing ones.
“In addition to our existing upstream activities, we are also deepening exploration activities of the nation’s frontier basins using the best industry standards and technologies which are already yielding results such as the Kolmani discovery,” he said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com