The Republic of The Gambia, on Monday, launched a new bidding round for offshore Block A1 at the ongoing Africa Oil Week in Dubai, UAE.
Interested bidders have four months to submit their offers to The Gambia’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
The licence will be for a maximum of 30 years, divided into three exploration periods.
In April 2019, the West African nation signed an agreement with BP for the development of Block A1.
BP, consequently, acquired 2D and 3D seismic data in the licence.
However, BP exited due to changes in the company’s corporate strategy.
Speaking to the gathering at the Africa Oil Week, The Gambian Minister for Petroleum and Energy, Fafa Sanyang said: “Our key objective in designing the licensing round is to ensure an attractive fiscal regime with low entry conditions for bidders as well as procurement process and participation rules.”
He said his country, fully aware of the impact of energy transition which is confronting the oil and gas market, is willing to enter into a successful partnership for the development of the Gambian petroleum sector.
Mr Sanyang called on oil and gas investors to opt for The Gambia for good returns on their investment.
Deputy Commissioner of Petroleum at The Gambia’s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Kanni Touray said it remained the intention of the Ministry to encourage investments into the development of block A1.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The United Kingdom (UK) has admitted responsibility for the mess created by the climate in the country and other parts of Europe.
“The UK is responsible for the mess we find ourselves,” Alastair Long, Her Majesty’s Trade Commissioner for Africa, UK Department for International Trade, said while contributing to the discussion on ‘Designing an Economic Blueprint for Harmonisation of Energy Development Across Africa’ at the ongoing Africa Oil Week conference in Dubai, UAE.
According to him, the UK has a remarkable dependence on fossil fuel plants, noting that over 80 per cent of people in the UK depend on gas usage.
The UK and many parts of Europe have been witnessing cold weather, flooding and heatwave due to climate change.
In the UK, 40 per cent of CO2 emissions are caused by individuals, mostly from energy used in the home, driving and air travel.
The effects of climate change can be seen in the UK and around the world.
To address the climate change effects, Alastair Long said the UK has set up 11.6 billion funds to minimize CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.
African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy & ICT H.E Dr Amani Abou-Zeid says Africa is not much concerned about the much talked about energy transition that the Western nations are pushing for.
According to her, what the continent is concerned about is Africans getting excess electricity to spur economic growth.
She noted that 600 million Africans do not have electricity while 900 million do not have access to clean cooking and so wondered why the continent should be worried about the energy transition.
“When you say energy transition, it does not reflect in the lives of the people in Africa.
“For Africans, our agenda between now and 2063 is access to reliable and affordable energy,” she explained.
Contributing to the discussion on ‘Designing an Economic Blueprint for Harmonisation of Energy Development Across Africa’ at this year’s Africa Oil Week, which started today, Monday, in Dubai, H.E Dr Amani Abou-Zeid noted that the continent’s population is growing at a faster rate and, therefore, needs energy.
She described it as sad that although energy is playing a key role in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, only 25 per cent of the health sector in Sub-Saharan Africa has energy.
“The fact remains that majority of our population still needs energy now especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic,” she pointed out.
In her view, Africa has abundant energy resources such as solar and wind and called for efforts to ensure that citizens who are without electricity are connected.
She described it as an unfair push by the West for investors to stop investing in oil and gas.
Speaking on the same platform, the Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), H.E Wankele Keabetsewe Mene stressed the need for electricity interconnectivity among African countries.
Making a strong case for affordable electricity in Africa, H.E Keabetsewe Mene said: “If we don’t have reliable and affordable energy, we won’t succeed,” he said.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Africa’s focused oil and gas company, Tullow Oil Plc, is participating in this year’s Africa Oil Week (AOW) at Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai in the UAE.
The Chief Executive Officer of Tullow Oil Plc, Rahul Dhir is leading the company’s delegation which include Tullow Ghana Limited Managing Director, Wissam Al Monthiry, deputy Managing Director, Mrs. Cynthia Lumor and other senior officials of Tullow.
Tullow Oil has been one of the major sponsors of Africa Oil Week, a global platform for discussing energy policy, deals and transactions across Africa’s oil and gas industry.
The event brings together governments, national and international oil companies, independents, investors, the G&G community and service providers.
This year’s Africa Oil Week, which is under the theme: ‘ Succeeding in a Changed Market’, will have over 45 Ministers of Energy and Petroleum in Africa and CEOs of national oil companies and multinational oil companies in attendance.
Madam Cynthia Lumor, Deputy Managing Director of Tullow Ghana Limited will, on Wednesday, November 10, 2021, join other female top managers in the Energy Sector on a panel discussion on diversity and inclusion.
David Jones Amoah (Left), External Affairs Manager of Tullow Ghana Limited and Mrs Cynthia Lumor (Right), Deputy Managing Director of Tullow Ghana Limited
Then on Thursday, the Managing Director of Tullow Ghana Limited, Mr Wissam Al Monthiry will speak at the African Independent Forum while the CEO, Mr Rahul Dhir will deliver a keynote address at the same event.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Africa Oil Week (AOW), the largest and most prestigious oil and gas show for the African upstream, will officially open today with high-level attendance from the energy sector players in Africa and other parts of the world.
Taking place for the first time in UAE, the four day conference will end on Thursday, November 11, 2021.
Top companies in the energy sector, including TotalEnergies, Tullow, Eni, ADNOC, Shell, Equinor and Chevron, are strategic sponsors for this distinguished event which will convene senior E&P stakeholders, key policy makers and international investors, providing opportunities for executives to secure major deals and lucrative partnerships which will define the future of the African upstream.
Suhail bin Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Minister of Energy and Infrastructure, said, “The UAE has been at the forefront in facilitating many key events from around the world including the ongoing Expo 2020 Dubai. Our efforts have helped us gain the confidence of events like Africa Oil Week that are of strategic importance to the energy sector in the MENA region. This will not only boost bilateral trade ties between both countries, but it will also drive investment opportunities for the Middle East region at large. I am certain the AOW will help us maintain our upward trajectory and prove instrumental in driving growth.”
Nicolas Terraz, President of Exploration and Production and member of the Executive Committee, TotalEnergies, said, “As one of the biggest oil producers in Africa and across the globe, we are well aware of our role at the Africa Oil Week.”
Paul Sinclair, Vice-President of Energy and Director of Government Relations at Africa Oil Week, said, “Africa Oil Week is due to kickstart tomorrow with various exciting engagements for participants, exhibitors and attendees.
Top government officials and senior executives will partake in the event that will stimulate dialogue and facilitate business opportunities. We aim to reaffirm the event’s role in bridging Africa and the Middle East’s energy sector.”
The President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo has appointed Mr Ebo B Quagrainie as the chairman of the newly constituted board of the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC).
Mr Ebo B Quagrainie is currently the Director for Technical Services at Savvytech Ghana Limited, an Engineering Consultancy Company specializing and providing services to the Mining, Power and Petroleum industries in the areas of Filtration, Electrical and Electro-Mechanical Engineering.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering Degree from Yale College New Haven CT, USA, and is an expert in Software Engineering.
He was a Principal Engineer at the New York Power Authority and undertook corrective and preventive maintenance on power plants including the Niagara Falls Plant and the Indiana Point Nuclear Plant in Oswego New York.
Mr Quagrainie worked as the Head of IT Department at the Continental Acceptances Merchant Bank (now CAL Bank) where he designed the first Network of Computers and built the first indigenous Banking Software for CAL Bank.
He also worked as a Systems Engineer at British Telecom New York where he designed and maintained software for Trading Systems for the Banks.
Mr Quagrainie has also served on the board of Ghana Civil Aviation and was the chairman of the Finance Committee of the Board that secured a loan to execute the Phase II project of the airport expansion and upgrade system.
Other members of the board are Executive Secretary of PURC, Mrs Mami Dufie Ofori; Dr Kwabena Nyarko Otoo, representative of the Trade Union Congress; Dr Yaw Adu Gyamfi, representative of the Association of Ghana Industries and Mr Patrick Nyarko, representing the Consumer Protection Agency.
The rest are Professor Joe Amoako- Tuffour, Mr Ishmael Edjekumhene, Dr Nii Darko Kobina Asante, and Mrs Dora Oppong, all of whom are nominees of the President.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Zambia’s Electricity Distribution Company (ZESCO) says its team of engineers are working hard to restore power supply in areas currently without electricity.
Several parts of the country experienced power outages on Saturday following system disturbances in the Zambian Interconnected Power System, resulting in loss of generation.
In a statement, the company said its preliminary investigations indicated that the cause of the disturbance was external to the Zambian Interconnected Power System.
The company said further investigations are still underway to establish the cause of the loss of generation and subsequent nationwide blackout.
The company expressed deep regret for the development and promised to keep its customers and public informed on the ongoing restoration exercise.
The UK, Germany, Italy, South Korea, and Indonesia are among the 40 countries that signed a pledge to phase out coal.
That seems a positive development for the climate. But on closer inspection, it appears that the global ‘coal to clean power transition’ commitment failed to rally the support of several of the world’s biggest coal consumers, including China, India, the United States, and Australia—rendering the agreement fairly impotent.
In fact, most countries that did sign the pledge at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow have either already pledged to phase out coal, or use little of it themselves, especially when compared to the top coal-consuming nations.
In June, the UK had already brought forward its target to end coal use in electricity generation by one year to October 2024 as part of its aim to lead the world in tackling climate change.
Already in 2017, Italy announced its plans to phase out coal by 2025. Germany’s incoming government has reportedly agreed to phase out coal by 2030, eight years earlier than currently planned.
These major economies were signatories to the pledge that said, “Our shared vision is to accelerate a transition away from unabated coal power generation, as is essential to meet our shared goals under the Paris Agreement, in a way that benefits workers and communities and ensures access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all by 2030.”
The pledge also lacks specifics in terms of the end date for unabated coal, while analysts point out that the signatories account for just 11 percent of coal-generated electricity globally.
Despite President Biden’s loud climate agenda, the United States, where coal still accounts for 20 percent of electricity generation, did not join the pledge—even though the U.S. held last-minute talks with the UK government, during which the U.S. sought an exemption for coal-fired power plants with carbon capture and storage.
The unwillingness of the U.S. to join the pledge appears to be linked to the U.S. Administration’s efforts to pass the Build Back Better bill, The New York Times reports, citing U.S. officials.
The approval of the bill largely hinges on the vote of West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, who is opposed to any piece of legislation that could harm coal or natural gas.
U.S. officials decided not to anger Senator Manchin further by signing onto the coal phase-out pledge, the NYT reported.
Regardless of the reasons why, the lack of broad and meaningful support for the coal phase-out plan could mean that coal won’t be phased out as quickly as COP26 would like us to believe.
Source:Oilprice.com
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) says its team of engineers are currently working to restore power supply to parts of Koforidua and its environs without power due to the severe rainstorm on Friday, November 5.
The ECG in the Eastern Region, on Friday, in a public notice said the heavy rainstorm that hit parts of the region caused outages within the distribution network.
It, therefore, assured customers within the affected areas that its engineers were working assiduously to rectify the faults and restore power supply to them.
Giving an update on the situation, the Eastern Regional Public Relations Officer, Mr Emmanuel Halm noted that the power supply has been restored to some areas while other areas are yet to be restored.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Management of Ghana’s strategic oil storage company, BOST, has met transport owners on the recent report of detection of fuel adulteration at the company’s depot in Kumasi, the regional capital of the Ashanti Region.
Ten tanker trucks, loaded with quantities of fuel from the company’s depot in Tema en route to Kumasi depot were impounded when testing revealed that the petroleum products onboard the trucks had been allegedly adulterated.
The drivers of the trucks bolted but energynewsafrica.com’s sources say the security agencies have succeeded in arresting a couple of them and are being interrogated.
At a meeting with the transport owners in Accra, on Thursday, November 4, 2021, the Managing Director of BOST, Edwin Nii Obadai Provencal expressed his unhappiness about the development.
According to a post on the company’s official Facebook page, the MD said: “No stone would be left unturned to find the culprits.”
He disclosed that though the police are undertaking the investigations, BOST, on its part, is undertaking a review of its internal systems.
He emphasised that should any staff of BOST be found playing any role in the illicit conduct, the person would face the full rigours of the law.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghana’s effort in curbing dirty or adulterated fuel is yielding fruits as the country’s petroleum downstream regulator has revealed a drastic reduction in fuel adulteration in the country.
According to the Chief Executive Officer of the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, fuel adulteration at the retail outlet has reduced drastically from 32 per cent in 2013 to 2.51 per cent as of August 2021.
“We are poised to wipe out these 2.51 per cent culprits who are still cheating petroleum consumers. This is why we are here today to tell consumers to report to the NPA anytime there is suspicion of the purchase of contaminated fuel,” he said.
Addressing stakeholders at this year’s Consumer Week Celebration in Ho, the Volta Regional capital, Dr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid noted that fuel adulteration increases the emission of harmful compounds such as carbon dioxide and volatile organic compounds that affect air quality and the environment.
The NPA’s CEO said the effects go a long way to affect the health of the workforce, harm the reputation of a fuel retailer’s brand and cost the government millions of cedis in revenue annually.
He averred that the petroleum downstream industry has always been about striking the right balance between the industry players, who are petroleum service providers and consumers.
Dr Abdul-Hamid pointed out that, since the industry wants to make a profit, the consumer wants value for their money, hence, none of them must occur at the expense of the other.
“It is for this reason that the regulator (NPA) was established to innovate and adopt strategies to ensure that the industry remains efficient and profitable while the consumers receive value for money,” he said.
He stressed, however, that fuel adulteration is a global problem and in Ghana, it has been a challenge to both the industry and regulators.
According to the Chief Executive, in a bid to tackle the problem of petroleum product adulteration, innovative strategies have been adopted, primarily aimed at improving upon the quality of petroleum products to ensure fuel supplied at final dispensing outlets is of the right quality specification to consumers.
“Among the key strategies are the revision of operating procedures in the importation, exportation, and production of fuels by petroleum service providers (PSPs) and the introduction of Petroleum Product Marking Scheme (PPMS) and Bulk Road Vehicle (BRV) tracking system to ensure that products are devoid of adulteration and meet the required specification along the supply chain.”
He mentioned that as a result of the stringent measures instituted, the retail outlet failure rate has reduced drastically from 32 per cent as of 2013 to 2.51 per cent as of August 2021.
“There are laws that provide punitive sanctions such as fines, imprisonment or both for the perpetrators of these fuel quality crimes,” he warned.
This year’s Consumer Week Celebration was under the theme: ‘Adulterated Fuels: A Menace To The Consumer And The Economy’.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa said the effects of bad fuels are many and that contaminated fuels cause engines to malfunction and come with extra cost to the consumer to restore damaged engines.
Such fuels, he said, also generate toxic fumes that pollute the air and are harmful to the health of the people.
According to him, putting in place such a programme to stem the trend is welcoming news.
He also said that a section of the petroleum industry that indulges in adulteration cheats the consumer out of what they are paying for, harms the reputation of a fuel retailer’s brand and cost the government millions of cedis in revenue each year.
He encouraged all stakeholders not to see the theme as a single duty of the NPA but rather embrace it as a collective responsibility.
The Consumer Week is intended to be observed every year to educate the public on petroleum products used as well as increase the knowledge of the consuming public on the rights and responsibilities.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Ghanaians are lamenting bitterly over the frequent hikes in petrol and diesel prices and blaming the Government for failing to do more to lessen their hardship.
And some of the lamentations could be seen and read on some social media spaces where many consumers are venting their anger at the government after TotalEnergies adjusted its fuel prices at the pump by 10 pesewas.
Some went to the extent of sharing a video of the then-presidential candidate but now the current President, Nana Akufo-Addo, accusing the John Mahama-led administration of being insensitive by constantly increasing fuel prices and promising to reduce fuel prices if he got the opportunity to serve as President.
Others are of the view that the current administration has not kept faith with Ghanaians as promised by President Akufo-Addo when he was the largest political opposition leader.
Consumers were expecting a reduction in fuel prices due to the removal of the Price Stabilisation and Recovery Levy (PSRL).
However, that expectation has become wishy-washy as prices of petroleum products are witnessing an upward adjustment.
As of Friday, only TotalEnergies had adjusted their pump prices, and energynewsafrica.com understands the other OMCs are likely to adjust their prices during the weekend.
As at Saturday morning , Brent crude oil was trading at $82.74 while WTI was selling at $81.27
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10224448848341687&id=1020960823
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has completed the repair of the faulty portion of one of the 132kV Katampe–Central Area underground transmission cables supplying bulk electricity to TCN’s Gas Insulated Substation (GIS) in Central Area in Abuja.
In a statement signed by Mrs Ndidi Mbah, General Manager, Public Affairs, TCN said the repair works were completed and the cable energized at about 15:09hrs on Monday, 1st November 2021.
It would be recalled that a portion of the underground transmission cable line-1 that passes through the IBB Golf Club, was damaged by an excavation machine working for the Club on 23rd December 2019.
The delay in the repair of the underground cable line-1 was due to a lack of cable repair kit and expertise required to undertake the work in the country as well as the Covid-19 pandemic.
Following the successful restoration of the 132kV underground transmission cable line-1, TCN now has a bulk transmission line redundancy (N-1), which implies that if there is a sudden failure of one line, the second will be available.
The repaired and energized second underground cable line-1 also means that TCN can now supply more bulk power to AEDC.
The Katampe–Central Area 132kV transmission line-1 supplies power to AEDC for strategic areas in Abuja such as the Central Area Business District, the 3 Arm-Zone, DSS Headquarters, NNPC Headquarters, Federal Secretariat and their environs.
“TCN is committed to rehabilitating and executing new transmission projects even as it completes old ones, in line with its Nigerian Electricity Grid Maintenance, Expansion and Rehabilitation Programme geared towards putting in place a more robust transmission grid,” the statement concluded.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
The Corporate Communications Manager at Ghana’s power transmission company, GRIDCo, Mr Ebenezer Amankwah has resigned.
According to sources, Mr Amankwah resigned from the company last week.
It is not clear why he resigned from the transmission company but sources say he resigned to pick up a new role in one of the top banks in the West African country.
He joined GRIDCo in 2019.
Before joining GRIDCo, Mr Amankwah worked with Vodafone Ghana where he was the Corporate Relations Manager responsible for all communications and stakeholder management.
Earlier in his career, he worked as a journalist with Citi FM and later as the Corporate Affairs Manager at Standard Chartered Bank.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
He stressed, however, that fuel adulteration is a global problem and in Ghana, it has been a challenge to both the industry and regulators.
According to the Chief Executive, in a bid to tackle the problem of petroleum product adulteration, innovative strategies have been adopted, primarily aimed at improving upon the quality of petroleum products to ensure fuel supplied at final dispensing outlets is of the right quality specification to consumers.
“Among the key strategies are the revision of operating procedures in the importation, exportation, and production of fuels by petroleum service providers (PSPs) and the introduction of Petroleum Product Marking Scheme (PPMS) and Bulk Road Vehicle (BRV) tracking system to ensure that products are devoid of adulteration and meet the required specification along the supply chain.”
He mentioned that as a result of the stringent measures instituted, the retail outlet failure rate has reduced drastically from 32 per cent as of 2013 to 2.51 per cent as of August 2021.
“There are laws that provide punitive sanctions such as fines, imprisonment or both for the perpetrators of these fuel quality crimes,” he warned.
This year’s Consumer Week Celebration was under the theme: ‘Adulterated Fuels: A Menace To The Consumer And The Economy’.
The Volta Regional Minister, Dr Archibald Yao Letsa said the effects of bad fuels are many and that contaminated fuels cause engines to malfunction and come with extra cost to the consumer to restore damaged engines.
Such fuels, he said, also generate toxic fumes that pollute the air and are harmful to the health of the people.
According to him, putting in place such a programme to stem the trend is welcoming news.
He also said that a section of the petroleum industry that indulges in adulteration cheats the consumer out of what they are paying for, harms the reputation of a fuel retailer’s brand and cost the government millions of cedis in revenue each year.
He encouraged all stakeholders not to see the theme as a single duty of the NPA but rather embrace it as a collective responsibility.
The Consumer Week is intended to be observed every year to educate the public on petroleum products used as well as increase the knowledge of the consuming public on the rights and responsibilities.
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com 
Source: https://energynewsafrica.com
