Venezuela: Chevron, Others Gets Another Extension To Continue Operations
US government has given approval for Chevron and four oilfield service providers to continue working in Venezuela for 90 days despite sanctions on the crisis-stricken country.
The U.S. Treasury Department decision is the fourth waiver granted since sanctions were announced in November 2018 in what is becoming a fraught quarterly ritual for the companies.
The waiver also exempts Baker Hughes Co., Halliburton Co., Schlumberger Ltd. and Weatherford International Ltd. from sanctions.
The waiver was extended to April 22. The previous waiver was due to expire on Jan. 22.
Venezuela’s daily oil production slumped to a 75-year low of 792,000 barrels last year as sanctions crippled the economy and cut off access to U.S. refiners. As a result, the nation’s crude exports that bankroll the regime tumbled to the lowest since 1985.
While Venezuela accounts for only about 1% of Chevron’s global crude production, it remains strategically important given the nation’s vast untapped reserves. Proponents of Chevron’s position argued that withdrawing would cede market share and influence to Russian and Chinese companies.
Chevron is the last remaining major U.S. explorer in the country. Rivals ExxonMobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips exited a decade ago after then-President Hugo Chavez seized control of their assets.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: GRIDCo CEO Declare 2020 As A Year Of Growth
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Grid Company, Jonathan Amoako-Baah has declared 2020 as a year of growth and dominance in the West African sub-region for the power transmission company.
In a New Year message to staff, the CEO of the power transmission company implored employees to rally together and embrace 2020 with enthusiasm as they seek to maintain stability and efficiency on the grid across the sub-region.
According to him, GRIDCo will seek to drive innovation and creativity in how it operates in order to establish a world class reputation amongst its peers.
Despite some challenges in 2019, GRIDCo was able to ensure consistency and stability in power transmission in Ghana and across the sub-region.
It was also able to expand its services to neighbouring countries in West Africa whiles ensuring reliability for Ghanaians.
The company received two major awards in 2019 including the Power Service Provider of the Year at the Africa Energy Awards in Cape Town.
Challenges emanating from unpaid debt obligations from its bulk customers led to some staff unrest towards the end of the year.
However, this was eventually resolved following fruitful consultative meetings between Management and the staff groups.
The company has also put measures in place to address its current financial situation including strategies to recoup monies from indebted bulk clients within reasonable time.
“I am confident that we are on the right path. Management would want to assure staff that, even with the challenges experienced last year, we will continue to implement measures that will make us competitive, grow new businesses and enhance our use of technology,” Jonathan Amoako-Baah said.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Independent Power Producers Commends German-Gov’t For €250M GRIDCo And Siemen Deal
The Chamber of Independent Power Producers, Distributors and Bulk Consumers in the Republic of Ghana (CiPDiB) has lauded the German Government for its G20 Africa Initiative, which led to the singing of a €250m deal between GRIDCo and Siemens last week.
Under the agreement, the two companies will work collaboratively to upgrade and extend Ghana’s transmission infrastructure, improve the country’s grid capacity and stability, enable and expand a stable power export to neighbouring countries in the West African Power Pool.
“Access to electricity is an imperative need for the people and business and, thus, for economic success of any economy. As Ghana has significantly invested into generation capacity, there is now an urgent need to build a reliable, affordable and sustainable electrical network for the country and its people. With our proven and unique end-to-end electrification solutions, our expertise and reliability, Siemens can be a technology partner and help the country achieve its objectives,” Joe Kaeser, President and CEO of Siemens.
In a press statement copied to energynewsafrica.com, CiPDiB also commended Ghana’s President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo -Addo for the MoU which secured the € 250m in the quest to improve energy infrastructure in the country.
“The decision reflects our persistent call for government to concentrate on cleaning the entire energy infrastructure aimed at reducing the limitations and inefficiencies in the transmission system, and translate the idle or excess capacities into economic uses or development,” CiPDiB said.
It further observed that the attempt to renovate PPAs was strategic and boost to the sector, since it offer a better solution and also paves way for economic demand for power domestically and also in the West African sub-region.
CiPDiB underscored the for similar support to be given to Ghana’s power distribution company, ECG, since the key challenge to its operation is to reduce inefficiencies and the 24 percent technical and commercial losses. Adding that, the sum of these losses were almost equal to cost of the excess or idle capacities in ECG’s operations.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria: We’ll Pay More Attention To Gas Processing In 2020-Mele Kyari
Nigeria is set to focus its upstream work towards Natural Gas Liquids (NGLs) and natural gas in a bid to comply with the crude production quota obligation set by members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC+).
This was disclosed by the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) Alhaji Mele Kyari at just ended Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi.
He mentioned that the quotas apply only to crude oil production and not condensate and the country would focus production to more gas-based reservoirs to grow production while maintaining a balance in the market.
Nigeria was fully compliant with its quota of 1.77 million barrels per day (bpd) for December 2019 and was commended by The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei at the forum.
According to a report by OPEC, Nigeria’s crude oil production dipped by 95,000 bpd from November 2019 to December 2019.
Production stood at 1.570 million bpd in December 2019 which represents a significant decline from the 1.664 million bpd recorded in November 2019. OPEC’s latest oil market report showed that crude oil production averaged 29.44 million bpd in December, lower by 161,000 bpd, month on month in line with production cuts agreed to.
The UAE has reinstated its readiness to invest in Nigeria’s petroleum sector and to facilitate high-level bilateral opportunities to deepen the cooperation between both countries.
This was reiterated by UAE Ambassador to Nigeria, Fahad Al Taffaq, on his visit with the minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, in Abuja. Al Taffaq promised to facilitate opportunities that would see to the creation of new projects in the short, medium and long-term for the benefit of the two countries.
Sylva said that 2020 remained an important year for Nigeria as the federal government proposes marginal field and major bid rounds in the sector, and UAE has the financial strength to fully participate in the process.
Marginal field refers to an oil field that may not produce enough net income to make it worth developing at a given time. However; should technical or economic conditions change, such a field may become a commercially viable field.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
South Sudan: Juba Power Grid To Be Completed By March 2020
South Sudan’s Ministry of Energy and Dams, says it is working on the rollout of public private partnerships to bring power to regional cities, based on the success of its partnership with Ezra Power in Juba.
The city grid became operational in 2019, but the ministry expects that by March 2020 all homes and businesses should have access to power.
“Electricity is a basic need and electricity is the engine of development. If you look into the criteria used to start a development, you will see that electricity is at the top. If we aspire to be like other developing countries, we need to help generate electricity,” Minister of Energy and Dams, Hon. Dr. Dhieu Mathok Diing Wol said during the swearing in ceremony of the new Undersecretary Hon. Macham Mecham Angui.
The ministry has acknowledged the high tariff price of the new power system and is working on reducing it as a priority. The first 100 kW of power is free, to help low income residents.
Former Undersecretary and new Technical Advisor Eng. Lawrence Loku Moyu noted that the government had plans to expand the country’s grid networks, “but these network expansions need human resources to develop; we need new engineers, technicians, to bring these expansions to South Sudan.”
Moyu further highlighted that after gaining independence in 2011, South Sudan had not yet obtained feasibility studies done by the Khartoum government on the power sector. Purchasing these studies and implementing their recommendations is a strategic objective for the ministry.
“The new engineers that we are recruiting will have to study this program from the beginning. Getting these studies and implementing their recommendations is now a priority for us,” he concluded.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana:GRIDCo Blames Friday Power Outage On Faulty Transmission Line
Ghana’s power transmission company, GRIDCo, has attributed Friday afternoon’s power outage to a fault that occurred on one of its transmission lines from Tema to Accra.
In a statement signed by Ebenezer Amankwah, Corporate Communications Manager at GRIDCo, it said the fault resulted in a number generation facilities tripping, leading to outages in Accra and other parts of the country.
“Our Maintenance team responded immediately to restore the affected transmission circuits and power supply has since been fully restored to all parts of the country at approximately 14:30 pm,” the statement indicated.
The power transmitter apologised for the inconvenience the situation caused to power users and assured that it is committed to carrying out its mandate of delivering reliable power supply.
GRIDCo operates the Ghana Wholesale Electricity Market and provides electricity transmission services in Ghana and West Africa.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Equatorial Guinea: MMH Signs MoUs To Boost Oil & Mining Exploration
The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea has signed a number of Memorandum of Understanding with successful bidders of its 2019 Licensing Round, on the sidelines of the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi.
Under EG-RONDA 2019, the government of Equatorial Guinea offered 27 free blocks for exploration across its sedimentary basins.
The licensing round generated interest from 53 companies and resulted in 17 bids.
The agreements were signed for Block EG-27 with Lukoil and GEPetrol (Niger Basin, offshore), EG-23 with WalterSmith, Hawtai Energy and GEPetrol (Niger Basin offshore), EG-09 with Noble Energy and GEPetrol (Duala Basin, offshore), EG-18 with Africa Oil Corporation and GEPetrol (Rio Muni basin, offshore), EG-03, EG-04, EG-19 and Block P with Vaalco Energy, Levene Energy and GEPetrol (Rio Muni Basin, onshore) and EG-28 with GEPetrol (Rio Muni Basin, offshore).
The signing of these MoUs is a first step towards the fast completion of the Production Sharing Contracts.
Apart from the oil blocks, MMH also signed MoU with Blue Magnolia, who was assigned seven blocks for copper, rare earth elements, PGE, gold, lead, uranium and bauxite among others; Oro Sac ACorp (M-Partners), who was assigned four blocks for gold, platinum, copper, zinc, lead and nickel; Akoga Resources, who was assigned two blocks for PGE, nickel, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium among others; Manhattan Mining Investment Inc, who was assigned one block for gold, and finally Shefa Minerals who was also assigned one block for gold.
“The results coming out of the EG Ronda 2019 were very encouraging and we hope to see a robust and sustained exploration activity in Equatorial Guinea once these contracts are signed,”H.E. Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons said.
“In 2020, the Year of Investment will see the signing and execution of several such contracts and projects, not only in upstream but also midstream and downstream.”
Exploration activity has been slowly recovering in the Gulf of Guinea. In 2019 for instance, Noble Energy announced a discovery after drilling the Aseng 6P well at a depth of 4,000 metres in Equatorial Guinea, confirming expectations that the country remains a promising frontier for oil and gas exploration. Recent discoveries are expected to add an additional 20,000 bopd to Equatorial Guinea’s oil production this year.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: WAPCo To Shutdown Its Offshore Pipeline For Cleanup And Inspection Exercise From January 20
The West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo), operators of the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP), will on Monday January 20, 2020, commence a cleanup and inspection exercise of its offshore pipeline from Nigeria to Ghana.
The exercise expected to be completed by March 21, 2020.
According to a statement signed by the Head of Communications and Public Affairs of Ghana’s Energy Ministry, Nana Kofi Oppong-Damoah, the exercise is intended to protect the integrity and assure safe operations of WAPCo’s offshore pipeline.
“In addition to cleaning the pipeline of debris, pigging will provide critical information on the condition of the pipeline to improve decisions on effective maintenance of the pipeline, prolong its lifespan and to improve safety of the pipeline operations,” the statement explained.
The Cleanup exercise will temporarily limit the availability of gas at the Tema offtake facility posing a challenge to power generation in the country.
The Energy Ministry said it is working in collaboration with the Finance Ministry and other key holders in the West African country’s gas-to-power sector, to reduce the impact on power supply in the country.
“Since there will be limited gas supply for power generation in Tema during the period, the Ministry of Energy in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and other key players in the country’s gas-to-power sector have made provision to mitigate the impact on the country’s grid system to ensure reliable and stable power supply.”
Read below the full statement:
For Immediate Release
OFFSHORE PIPELINE CLEANING AND INSPECTION EXERCISE
Accra, January 17, 2020 – Ministry of Energy wishes to inform the general public that, the West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo), operator of the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) will commence a cleaning and inspection of its offshore pipeline from Nigeria to Ghana, often referred to as “pigging” in the pipeline industry. This customary maintenance activity is intended to protect the integrity and assure safe operations of WAPCo’s offshore pipeline which is the main critical asset of the company, transporting natural gas within the four (4) West African States of Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana. The exercise will start on January 20, and is expected to be completed no later than March 21, 2020.
This activity is consistent with regulatory requirements and also important for maintaining the integrity of the pipeline to ensure efficient and reliable operations. In addition to cleaning the pipeline of debris, pigging will provide critical information on the condition of the pipeline to improve decisions on effective maintenance of the pipeline, prolong its lifespan and to improve safety of the pipeline operations. Effluents from the pigging will be discharged in Takoradi in line with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requirements.
Pigging consists of cleaning and internal inspection of the offshore pipeline from Nigeria to Ghana using multiple cleaning Pipeline Inspection Gauges (PIGS) and an “intelligent pig” for data gathering on structural integrity. The PIG will be launched from WAPCo’s Lagos Beach Compressor Station (LBCS) in Badagry, Nigeria and will be received at their Takoradi Regulating & Metering Station (RMS).
This maintenance activity is expected to temporarily limit availability of gas at the Tema, Lome and Cotonou offtake facilities. Since there will be limited gas supply for power generation in Tema during the period, the Ministry of Energy in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and other key players in the country’s gas-to-power sector have made provision to mitigate the impact on the country’s grid system to ensure reliable and stable power supply.
……………………………..
NANA KOFI OPPONG-DAMOAH
HEAD, COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS
Ghana: Tema Regional ECG Recovers GHS 88,185 From Illegal Connections
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), in the Tema Region of the Republic of Ghana, has recovered GHc 88,184.56 from 75,400kwh units of power which was consumed illegally by some customers.
Briefing energynewsafrica.com, Mrs. Zita Kyei-Gyamfi, who is the Tema Regional Revenue Protection Manager, said the Revenue Protection Section received complaints of illegal activities by some customers, and therefore embarked on eight days’ operations during the Christmas break to clamp down on those engaging in illegal connections.
She said the team visited commercial premises like hotels, drinking spots, pubs and shops with assistance of the Tema Regional Police.
According to her, during the operation, it was found that three meters, which were installed in one hotel, had been bypassed, adding that a pub with two meters were found by-passed.
She said her outfit, consequently, charged the culprits accordingly.
The ECG explained that the exercise also revealed that some of the meters were found to have been tampered with.
“The Revenue Protection Section of the Tema Region is not going to relax until all hidden illegal connections are unearthed,” Mrs Zita Kyei stated.
Ing. Joseph Mensah Forson, General Manager of Tema Region who commended the team for the exercise also cautioned customers who are engaging in illegal connections to desist from the practice.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: BOST Will Be Resourced To Improve On Product Transportation-Bawumia
Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, Dr. Mahammudu Bawumia says the government is taking steps to ensure that the the West African country’s Bulk Oil Storage & Transportation Company Limited (BOST) is adequately resourced to lead the transformation of the petroleum product distribution system.
This, he said, is because petroleum downstream sector is a critical component in meeting the energy requirements of the country.
He added that an efficient and effective petroleum products distribution system is important and essential to the economic growth of the country.
In view of this, Dr Bawumia said the government is committed to improving the movement of petroleum products within the country by developing other modes of transport such as rail, water and pipeline to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of petroleum products distribution in the country.
The Vice President was speaking at the launching of Electronic Cargo System and National Command Centre established by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) to monitor movement of Bulk Road Vehicles (BRVs), which transport petroleum products across the West African nation.
On his part, Deputy Minister for energy in charge of Petroleum, Dr Mohammed Amin Adam noted that the West African nation has limited capacity in the transportation of petroleum products via the Volta Lake to the northern part of the country.
“Our capacity in pipeline transportation is next to nothing while we currently have no capacity in transporting petroleum products by rail,” he observed.
Dr Mohammed Amin Adam assured the industry players of the government’s determination to address the capacity challenges facing the Bulk Oil Storage and Transportation Company and the Volta Lake Transport Company in the distribution of petroleum products, indicating that the 98 percent of all petroleum products transported by road was on the high side.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Tullow Oil Announces $1.5bn Writedown As It Cuts Outlook For Oil Prices
Tullow Oil has announced a $1.5bn (£1.15bn) writedown on its outlook after lowering its long-term oil price outlook.
The energy firm slashed its prediction for oil prices by $10 to $65 a barrel, with underwhelming well exploration and a reduction in Ghanaian reserves also contributing to the write-down.
“Tullow expects to report pretax impairments and exploration write-offs of circa $1.5bn (c. $1.3bn post tax),” the company said in a statement posted on its website.
“Write-offs include Jethro, Joe and Carapa well costs in Guyana as a result of drilling results and Kenya Block 12A, Mauritania C3, PEL37 Namibia and Jamaica licence costs due to the levels of planned future activity or licence exits.”
Tullow Oil’s share price slipped 1.6 per cent in early trading to 58.2p.
In a bid to guard itself from oil price fluctuations Tullow Oil has hedged 45,000 barrels per day of its 2020 output with an average floor price of $57.28. For next year, it has hedged 22,000 barrels per day at $52.80 each.
It expects to generate cash flow of at least $150m from 75,000 barrels per day at $60.
But it was forced to suspend an early oil pilot scheme in Kenya due to “severe damage” to roads caused by bad weather in the last quarter of 2019.
“Trucking remains on hold until all roads are repaired to a safe standard,” Tullow warned.
Tullow is still searching for a new chief executive after its share price plunged 70 per cent in December following the resignation of Pat McDade on the back of the business’ poor performance.
His resignation, alongside that of exploration director Angus McCoss, wiped £1.2bn off the firm’s market value.
Problems with its Ghana drilling operations forced Tullow to cut its production guidance for 2019 to 87,000 barrels per day from 89,000.
Tuloow said it ended 2019 with an average production of 86,700 barrels per day and free cash flow of $350m.
“Since our December announcement, Tullow’s senior team has been working hard on a major review focused on delivering a more efficient and effective organisation,” Tullow Oil executive chair Dorothy Thompson said.
“The fundamentals of our business remain intact: recent reserves audits demonstrate that we have a solid underlying reserves and resources base in West and East Africa, our producing assets continue to generate good cash flow and we retain a high-quality exploration portfolio.
“The board and senior management are confident of the long-term potential of the portfolio and see meaningful opportunities to improve operational performance, reduce our cost base, deliver sustainable free cash flow and reduce our debt.”
Angola: Eni Kicks Off Oil Production From Agogo Field Offshore Angola
Italian oil and gas company Eni has started oil production from its operated Agogo field, located offshore Angola, only nine months after its discovery,offshoreenergytoday.com has reported.
Eni announced a major oil discovery in Block 15/06, in the Agogo exploration prospect, in Angola’s deep water in March 2019. Eni operates two FPSOs in Block 15/06, the N’Goma in West Hub and Olombendo in East Hub.
The Agogo-1 NFW well, which has led to the discovery, is located approximately 180 kilometers off the coast and about 20 kilometers west from the N’Goma FPSO. The well was drilled by the Poseidon drillship in a water depth of 1636 meters and reached a total depth of 4450 meters.
According to Angola’s National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels’ statement on Thursday, at the moment, the field is producing around 10,000 barrels of oil per day and is projected to reach 20,000 per day in the coming months.
The agency said that the achievement was a result of the synergies developed with the N’Goma FPSO. The field is producing as a subsea tie-back to the FPSO.
It is estimated that the field contains 650 million barrels of light oil in place with further upside, confirmed by the Agogo-2, the first appraisal well of the Agogo discovery drilled in July 2019.
The Block 15/06 Joint Venture is composed of Eni (operator, with a 36.8421% stake), Sonangol P&P (36.8421%), and SSI Fifteen Limited (26.3158%).
In a separate statement on Friday, Eni said that the record time set for the field to become operational, nine months after its discovery last March, confirmed its successful endorsement of the fast track model in the development of its discoveries, a strategy based on operational synergies with already existing infrastructure that maximizes projects value.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
African Energy Chamber Commends Kosmos Energy For Appointing Female Vice President
The African Energy Chamber has commended Kosmos Energy for appointing Senegalese national Khady Dior Ndiaye as Vice President and Regional Director for West Africa.
According to the Energy Chamber, her appointment is a very positive step towards promoting women in leadership positions in the oil sector and recognising the extremely talented energy leaders emerging out of West Africa.
“The appointment of Khady Dior Ndiaye is a brilliant move and in line with our belief that women can and should lead,” Nj Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber and author of Billions At Play said.
“The oil industry cannot be the last bastion of male domination. Congratulations to Kosmos Energy on showing the way for others in Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Mozambique, Nigeria, Angola or South Africa to follow!”
Khady Dior Ndiaye has demonstrated her leadership skills working for Citibank in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal.
She will lead Kosmos Energy’s operations in the region at very important times for the company and for Senegal who expects to be producing first oil and gas within two years.
“The African Energy Chamber wishes her all the best in her new role and assures her of all its support to lead the region towards greater prosperity,” the chamber said in a statement.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Ghana: Springfield E&P’s Afina Discovery Ranked Amongst Top Ten In 2019
Ghanaian energy firm, Springfield Exploration and Production Limited’s Afina well oil discovery in November has been named amongst the top ten most significant global hydrocarbon discoveries in 2019.
The list, compiled by IHS Markit, a United Kingdom based world class intelligence gathering organization with over 5000 analysts, data scientists, financial experts and industry specialists also positioned Springfield E&P as one of five global oil companies that made discoveries in Deepwater and the only indigenous company on the continent to do so.
The other discovery in Africa was BP’s Orca-1 in Mauritania.
Springfield’s Afina-1 well discovery in its West Cape Three Points Block 2 in November 2019, was considered very significant and more than doubled its proven oil reserves to 1.5 billion barrels and added 0.7tcf of gas to the existing discoveries.
The other major discoveries were by Exxon Mobil in Cyprus and Guyana, Repsol in Indonesia, Petrochina Tarim in China and CNOOCI in the United Kingdom.
The rest are PTTEP in Malaysia and Iranian Central Oil in Iran.
Commenting on the acknowledgement, CEO of Springfield E&P, Kevin Okyere in a post on LinkedIn stated that: “While celebrating the past, we look forward to even greater achievements, knowing what lies ahead. And we do know that all of this is possible because we work together with an amazing team of dedicated and committed people; from regulator, partners, contractors, suppliers to our employees.”
Springfield is Operator of the West Cape Three Points Block 2 with 84% interest while Ghana’s National Oil Company, GNPC and its Exploration Unit, EXPLORCO together hold the remaining 16% interest.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com