Indigenous Ghanaian conglomerate, McDan Group, is planning to venture into the US petroleum upstream industry by establishing an office in Houston, Texas, energynewsafrica.com can report.
This portal can confirm that McDan Group has been issued with a certificate to operate under the name McDan Group LLC by the State of Texas.
Information available to energynewsafrica.com indicates that McDan Group LLC has satisfied all the conditions for the setting up of an upstream business and was issued with certificate of formation (No. 90652845002) by Jose A. Esparza, Deputy Secretary of State of Texas on August 16, 2019.
“The undersigned, as Deputy of the Secretary of State of Texas, hereby certifies that a Certificate of Formation for the above named Domestic Limited Liability Company (LLC) received in this office has been found to conform to the application provisions of law.
“Accordingly, the undersigned, as Deputy Secretary of State and by virtue of the authority vested in the secretary by law, hereby issues this certificate evidencing filing effective on the date shown below.”
McDan Group LLC is expected to start work, following the issuance of certificate of operation.
McDan Group has a number of businesses under the group including McDan Shipping Company, which was established in November 1999 with headquarter in Accra, Ghana, and branches in Tema, Takoradi, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Equatorial Guinea.
The company has presence in over 2,400 major air and sea ports worldwide with partnership with WCA (World Cargo Alliance) and JC Trans.
Over the years, the company has expanded its services from customs brokerage to freight forwarding, which includes warehousing (bonded and non-bonded), diplomatic movements, removal services (household and corporate), courier services, hauling, project cargo movement, ground handling, heavy duty movement, cross border transportation and aviation cargo experts.
The company is the first and only freight forwarding company to obtain the air carrier license in handling chartered cargo flights in Ghana, and is currently the Cargo Sales Agent (CSA) for Ethiopian Airlines with worldwide connection.
An energy think tank in the Republic of Ghana, Institute for Energy Security (IES), is predicting a considerable rise in the price of LPG on the local market.
In addition, the Institute said it expects the prices of petrol and diesel at the pumps to remain stable.
“This can be attributed to international market variables on the local pump,” the Institute said in its first Pricing-window for September 2019.
“It is evident that whereas Gasoline and Gasoil fell by 4.2% and 1.17% respectively, LPG increased by 14.5%, plus a 0.9% depreciation of the local currency,” it added.
Below is the full StatementPETROL, DIESEL PRICES TO REMAIN STABLE; LPG TO SHOOT UP REVIEW OF AUGUST 2019 SECOND PRICING-WINDOW Local Fuel Market Performance
Prices of Petrol and Diesel have experienced relative stability over the past couple of weeks in line with oil market fundamentals. The second Pricing-window of August 2019 saw fuel prices remain unchanged at the pump.
The window also saw a review of Bulk Oil Distributors’ (BDCs) Forward FX rate (FuFeX) from 60 days to 30 days. Average price for both Gasoline (Petrol) and Gasoil (Diesel) stood Ghc5.12 across major Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs). According to IES Market-Scan, Benab Oil, Pacific Oil, Frimps Oil and Star Oil sold the least-priced fuel relative to other OMCs on the local market.
World Oil Market Prices
In terms of world market pricing, average Brent crude fell by 2.15%, due mainly to mixed sentiments and reaction to the escalating tensions between the U.S. and China over trade.
Trump escalated the trade war with an announcement of tariffs on additional $300 billion imports earlier this month. Beijing reacted this last week with new tariffs on $75 billion worth of U.S. goods, including a 5% tariff on crude oil imports beginning next week. As a result, average Brent crude price fell from $60.68 per barrel to $59.37 per barrel.
According to Standard and Poor’s Global Platts benchmark for fuels, Gasoil average price dropped by 1.17% to close trading at $561.68 per metric ton, from a previous price of $568.30 per metric ton. Gasoline also reduced by 4.2% to close trading at $605 per metric ton from a previous trading figure of $631.53 per metric ton. Whereas Gasoline and Gasoil saw price reductions, Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) price shot up by 14.5% by Platts assessment.
Local Forex and Fuel Stock
IES economic data shows the local currency experienced a marginal depreciation of 0.09% against the Dollar over the past two weeks. The dollar currently trades at GHc5.49 as against Ghc5.44 in the previous Pricing-windows.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Tullow Oil plc says it has been informed that its farm-down to Total and CNOOC has been terminated by the government of Uganda on August 29, 2019 following the expiry of the Sale and Purchase Agreements (SPAs).
Tullow was unable to secure a further extension of the SPAs with its Joint Venture Partners, despite previous extensions to the SPAs having been agreed by all parties.
The termination of this transaction was a result of being unable to agree all aspects of the tax treatment of the transaction with the Government of Uganda which was a condition to completing the SPAs.
While Tullow’s capital gains tax position had been agreed as per the Group’s disclosure in its 2018 Full Year Results, the Ugandan Revenue Authority and the Joint Venture Partners could not agree on the availability of tax relief for the consideration to be paid by Total and CNOOC as buyers.
Tullow would now initiate a new sales process to reduce its 33.33% Operated stake in the Lake Albert project which has over 1.5 billion barrels of discovered recoverable resources and is expected to produce over 230,000 bopd at peak production.
The Joint Venture Partners had been targeting a Final Investment Decision for the Uganda development by the end of 2019, but the termination of this transaction is likely to lead to further delay.
“Tullow has worked tirelessly over the last two and a half years to complete this farm down which was structured to re-invest the proceeds in Uganda. Whilst this is a very attractive low-cost development project, we remain committed to reducing our operated equity stake. It is disappointing to report this news at a time when we are making so much progress elsewhere towards the growth of the Group with our recent oil discovery in Guyana and the first export of oil from Kenya,” Paul McDade, CEO of Tullow Oil stated.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Nigeria’s National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) Chairman, Prof. James A. Momoh believes if the power crisis currently being faced by the West African nation is solved, it will lead to about 50% of the country’s problem automatically resolved.
“Solving energy challenges in Nigeria is solving about 50% of the nation’s problem,” he argued.
In his view, when the power challenges are resolved, they would boost economic growth, thereby, resulting in job creation for the teeming youth.
Prof. James A. Momoh stated these in a presentation during the just ended IEEE Power Africa Conference held in Abuja, Nigeria.
With a population of about 190 million, recent Nigerian Energy Policy report indicated that less than 50% out of the total population is connected to the grid supply, leaving the majority of the population without electricity.
Nigeria is endowed with large oil, gas, hydro and solar resource, and it already has the potential to generate 12,522 megawatts (MW) of electric power from existing plants, most days are only able to generate around 4,000 MW, which is insufficient.
Pof. James A. Momoh(right) in a chat with a participant after presenting a paper at the IEEE Power Africa Conference held in Abuja
So, on a fundamental level, there is simply not enough electricity generated to support the entire population. Although this is a very big challenge, it provides ample opportunities for professional, researchers and investors.
In his presentation, Prof. Momoh enumerated a number of interventions which were intended to reform Nigeria’s power sector.
However, these reforms, Prof. Momoh noted, have not been without implementation challenges.
He mentioned the labour, transaction costs relating to coordinating optimal investment across generation, transmission and distribution, stakeholder buy-in, managing expectations on performance, assessment of affordability especially for the vulnerable customers, designing of appropriate incentives, as well as conflicting roles of policy regulations and operation, as some of implementation challenges.
Regulatory Interventions to sector challenges
The presentation also touched on a number of regulatory interventions which are aimed at addressing challenges within the power sector of Nigeria’s economy.
Some of these interventions are ensuring that market contracts are effective, ensure that payments are made on time through FG interventions, enforcement of GSA and GTA contracts, discipline in the electricity market by enforcing the market rules and grid code, approval of cost reflective tariffs for TCN, ensure minimum standards for distribution operations are adhered to by the discos, as well as efficient dispatch of power plants.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
The Group Managing Director of Nigeria’s National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, is hoping the West African country will easily boost its oil production next year to, at least, 2.5 MMbpd.
“Fixing damaged pipelines will allow the nation to return capacity that’s stranded across the Niger Delta,” Mele Kyari told worldoil.com in an interview.
The nation is currently producing about 2.3 MMbpd, including about 350,000 bbl of condensate.
“We can easily hit 2.5 MMbpd in one year. We can pull back the 300,000 bpd shut-in without doing anything significant,” he said, referring to stranded supply.
Nigeria’s output has been gradually rising since the middle of the decade when disruption caused by a campaign of militant attacks drew to an end. While theft and sabotage remain an issue, Kyari outlined a plan to raise oil production to 3 million barrels a day and boost reserves to 40 billion barrels within four years.
“Security is still a concern and we are addressing that,” Kyari said.
Levels of theft have “gone down significantly but it is there,” he said, declining to give a figure for volume of crude lost to thieves.
A government committee that works on the issue pegged the figure at about 120,000 bpd in the first half of this year, according to Godwin Obaseki, chairman of that group.
NNPC, which pumps about 80% of Nigeria’s crude, in partnership with producers like Royal Dutch Shell Plc, ExxonMobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Total SA and Eni SpA, has set a deadline of the first half of 2021 to clear all outstanding debts related to operating costs owed to its partners, Kyari said.
The nation has paid $3.8 billion of a $5.1 billion settlement to majors. That leaves about $1.3 billion yet to clear.
“As we are extinguishing the legacy costs, we are meeting our current obligation. That’s the plan and that’s why our partners are going back to exploration,” he said.
Nigeria is in talks with Total on the Preowei field that is next to the Egina project, and is hoping to secure a final investment decision on Preowei next year.
A final decision on Shell’s Bonga Southwest could come by the end of this year. Those projects could add, at least, 200,000 barrels a day combined, according to Kyari.
Source:www.energynewsafrica.com
Government of Ghana and key stakeholders in the petroleum upstream sector have begun the process of revising the current National Energy Policy (NEP) to provide and ensure efficient petroleum activities in the sector.
The West African country’s Minister for Energy, John-Peter Amewu revealed this during the just ended 11th International Upstream Conference held in Accra.
According to Goldstreets Business, the minister explained that the move would ensure the realization of optimal long term petroleum resource utilization for the utmost benefit of the State as well as attracting the needed investments in the sector.
The revision of the Policy would also ensure the necessary regulations and policies streamlined to in order to take advantage of the emerging opportunities in the sector whiles ensuring minimal or no adverse consequences.
The Kenyan Investment Authority and Meru County Government have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with leading global renewable energy developers Windlab and Eurus Energy for the development of Africa’s first large scale hybrid wind, solar PV, and battery storage project at the Meru County Energy Park.
Meru County Energy Park will provide up to 80MW of clean, sustainable renewable energy, consisting of up to 20 wind turbines and more than 40,000 solar panels.
The project is expected to inject $150 million in investment to Meru County, Kenya and will produce enough reliable, predictable energy to power well over 200,000 homes.
The agreement (which was signed at an official ceremony in the presence of Cabinet Secretary Foreign Affairs Ambassador Monica Juma of the Republic of Kenya, and Prime Minister Shinzō Abe of Japan) forms part of the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7), which is being held this week in Yokohama, Japan.
It is a flagship project for Meru County Investment and Development Corporation (MCIDC).
The project is being developed in a partnership between MCIDC and Windlab East Africa (which is owned by Windlab Limited and Eurus Energy), as a premier example of a successful Public-Private Partnership initiative.
The project is expected to commence construction in 2021 and Meru County will continue to own part of the project when operational.
“We are excited to bring world-leading innovation in the renewable energy sector and project development expertise to Meru County, Kenya”, esi-africa.com reported Roger Price, Windlab’s Global CEO, who was in attendance in Yokohama for the signing of the MoU as saying.
“Windlab and Eurus Energy have a successful history of developing and implementing innovative projects together, and we are delighted to be expanding our partnership to include the Kenyan Government through the TICAD commitments,” Hideyuki Inazumi, CEO of Eurus Energy also said.
“Previous TICAD events have resulted in a number of highly successful Japanese-African ventures and we intend to use this opportunity to strengthen our commitment to working with Windlab on world-leading renewable energy projects across East Africa. The flagship Meru County Energy Project will be one of our first projects in the region,” he added.
MCIDC’s acting Managing Director, Eng. Samwel Odhiambo, stated: “Our partnership with Windlab is going from strength to strength and the signing of the MoU will bring further momentum, helping us to fast-track delivery of the project and the many associated benefits to the people of Meru County.”
He added: “Signing the MoU here in Japan is a major milestone for the project. We are looking forward to hosting Africa’s first hybrid renewable energy facility in our county.”
KenInvest’s managing director, Dr Moses Ikiara, pledged his support, stating: “As Kenya moves to implement the medium-term Big Four Agenda, promotion of predictable and sustainable renewable energy is key to guarantee successful realisation of the Manufacturing Pillar. We are excited to welcome Windlab and Eurus Energy to invest in Meru and shall offer them all the support required to deliver the project”.
The setting up and laying of pipelines for the supply of gas to power 470MW Karadeniz Powership Osman Khan which relocated from Tema to the Sekondi Naval Base is said to about 85 per cent complete.
Ghana Gas Company Limited will, as a result, push its first gas from Atuabo gas processing plant to the Power ship in October this year.
According to Ghana News Agency, Ghana’s National Gas Company, is expected to push its first gas from Atuabo gas processing plant to the powership in October this year.
Head of Communication for the Gas Company Ernest Kofi Owusu Bempah reportedly revealed this when officials of the company visited the relocated Karpowership at the Sekondi Naval Base to ascertain the progress of work.
Mr Bempah expressed joy about the work done so far and was hopeful that all things being equal, the powership will become operational come October.
He pointed out that the eight-kilometer onshore and the 1.3 km offshore pipelines linking the Karpowership, the tie-in point, had all been successfully laid and it was left with the metering gauge and other technical lines to be fixed.
“We will be pushing between 60/70million standard cubic feet worth of gas on a daily basis which can generate about 470 megawatts of power daily for the country”
He said Ghana Gas has more than 350mcsf gas and would be able to meet the demands of the powership.
Mr Bempah commended the management and staff of Karpowership as well as all stakeholders for the successful story so far.
The leadership of Electrical Contractors Association (GECA) in the West Africa nation, Republic of Ghana, is calling on agitating members of the association to exercise patience as the leadership is working to ensure that Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) pays monies owed them.
According to a statement copied to energynewsafrica.com, the leadership of ECG and GECA, recently, held a meeting at the Alisa Hotel in Accra to work on getting all outstanding payments fulfilled.
“We understand that our members are agitated and worried about their delayed payments. The leadership of GECA shares their sentiments and hereby, appeal to our members not to underscore the relationship the association has built with our stakeholders over the years,” it said.
Electrical contractors at a seminar
The association asked that all grievances concerning the delayed payments be channeled through the GECA National Secretariat in Accra or GECA regional offices across the country.
As the leading representative of all qualified electrical tradesmen and women in the country, the Association has over 70 years of experience in dealing with stakeholders in resolving issues concerning their members amicably.
“We trust our members will accord the association the chance to resolve the issue and not resort to actions that might jeopardise the ongoing negotiations with the ECG,” the statement concluded.
Source: www.energynewsafrica.com
Gazprom has admitted that its gas exports to Europe will fall in 2019, meaning that its 200.8 billion cubic meters of gas it shipped in 2018 to Europe and Turkey is now a thing of the past, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Gazprom had previously said it would maintain this high level of exports. It will also ship gas at lower prices, Gazprom indicated, adding insult to the injury.
Gazprom revenues are responsible for 5 percent of Russia’s economy.
In 2018, Gazprom Export LLC’s website shows, Western European countries made up 81 percent of its exports, led by Germany, while Central European states accounted for 19 percent. Russia controls about 35 percent of Europe’s total gas market.
Prior to its bang-up year in 2018, Gazprom had exported 192.2 bcm in 2017. This is the level that Gazprom is expecting for 2019 as well. For prices, Gazprom is expecting a decrease of 13 percent this year, to $215 per thousand cubic meters.
The reason for its gas export decrease in 2019 is sluggish demand, not to mention that Russia’s gas exports have become—or perhaps has always been–somewhat of a political hot potato.
Nevertheless, Gazprom’s Q2 net income rose to $4.55 billion—a 16% increase year over year, Gazprom reported on Thursday, although this was on the back of better foreign currency rates, rather than increased gas flows or prices.
Just last October, Russia was boasting its prowess in shipping record volumes of gas via pipelines to Europe, despite the United States’ efforts to steer Europe away from purchasing Russia’s gas.
Gazprom announced today that it had begun filling its pipeline to China, the Power of Siberia, with gas. Shipments are expected to start next year.
Oil and gas company Vaalco Energy has announced plans to start its drilling campaign offshore Gabon next month.
According to Vaalco Energy, Vantage Drilling has served notice that it expects to release the Topaz Driller jack-up rig to Vaalco in early September following completion of Eni’s Gabon drilling operations.
The start of the drilling campaign follows a successful full-field maintenance shut down at four of Vaalco’s platforms in the Etame Marin license, which has since returned to its pre-shutdown production levels, and the extension of Vaalco’s lease contract for the Petroleo Nautipa floating, production, storage and offloading vessel (FPSO) to September 2021, a statement copied to energy energynewsafrica.com by APO Group said.
The FPSO has a capacity to process 25,000 barrels per day from the Etame, Ebouri, Avouma, South Tchibala, North Tchibala and South-east Etame fields.
The five-well drilling campaign will begin with the Etame 9P appraisal well and follow with the 9H development well from the Etame platform.
“Our current plans are to drill up to three development wells and two appraisal wellbores funded from cash on hand and cash generated from operations,” Chief Executive Cary Bounds,” said.
Vaalco estimates a net drilling budget of $20 million to $25 million this year and $5 million to $10 million in 2020. Further, the Gabon-focused firm said it believes that the two appraisal wells may confirm up to up to “five million net barrels of 2P oil reserves spread across six well locations targeted in future drilling campaigns.”
With proven oil reserves of 2.5 billion barrels, Gabon is one of the more established hydrocarbons producers in the Gulf of Guinea.
Meanwhile, Gabon’s Minister of Petroleum, Gas and Hydrocarbons, H.E Noel Mboumba, and a large ministerial delegation will join a powerful line-up of African petroleum industry decision-makers at the Africa Oil & Power (AOP) conference.
This year, the AOP program will feature the participation of H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal; H.E. Adama Barrow, President of Gambia; H.E Gwede Mantashe, Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, South Africa; H.E. Diamantino Azevedo, Minister of Mining and Petroleum, Angola; H.E. Gabriel M. Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines & Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea; H.E. Mouhamadou Makhtar Cisse, Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Senegal; H.E. Mahaman Laouan Gaya, Secretary General, APPO; H.E. Awow Daniel Chuang, Minister of Petroleum of South Sudan and H.E. Abdoulaye Magassouba, Minister of Mines and Geology of the Republic of Guinea.
Source: www. energynewsafrica.com
There have been a dramatic expansion of regulations in key sectors of the global economy over the past decade, driving most of the improvement in conditions we have seen up to date — curtailing pollution, preventing abuses in the finance system, ensuring food safety, and protecting public health et cetera.
The financial system for instance have seen a great change since the Great Recession, as a result of regulations meant to safeguard the system and the tax-payers who had to bail it out, from another crisis. In the health sector, regulations have become an increasingly essential part of the political tool-box in the healthcare system, protecting the public from a number of health risk and providing numerous programs for public health and welfare at every level.
The natural resource extracting industries (i.e., fossil fuel, timber, and mining) which have been known for causing immense pollution and wiping out entire ecosystems, have also received a fair share of regulatory changes, with the application of special regulatory attention to drilling, pipelines, and other risky ventures where the consequence of an accident (natural or man-made) produces very damaging health or environmental impacts.
The shipping sector which plays a vital role in global trade, have equally undergone various regulatory changes over the period, with merchant shipping beings one of the most heavily regulated sectors, and amongst the first to adopt widely implemented international safety standards. The regulations in the sector have covered matters ranging from construction standards, to navigational rules and standards of crew competence; all in a bid to ensure safety of life at sea and the protection of the marine environment.
IMO 2020
Since 1948 when the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a specialized agency for the United Nations (UN) responsible for regulating oceangoing transport was formed, it has grown to re-inforce its objective of “creating a regulatory framework for the shipping industry that is fair and effective, universally adopted and universally implemented.”
Beginning 1st January 2020, the IMO will restrict the level of Sulphur in fuel oil (bunker fuel) used by shipping vessels operating outside designated emission control areas to 0.50 percent m/m (mass by mass), from 3.50 percent m/m
Sulphur dioxide can pose a threat to human health, animal health, and plant life. When inhaled, Sulphur may cause chest pains, heart and lung disease, asthma attacks, and respiratory problems in susceptible population groups. According to the world health organization (WHO), air pollution causes million annual premature death, and that is now the single biggest environmental and health risk. A study cited by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), says Sulphur dioxide can react in the atmosphere to form fine particles, and poses the largest health risk to young children and asthmatics.
It is estimated by the IMO that this new regulation will reduce the shipping industry’s emission of Sulphur dioxide by 85 percent, thus reducing an annual amount of premature death by 200,000.
The new Sulphur regulation to be implemented next year is an enhancement of previous ones adopted since 1997, and implemented to gradually reduce the Sulphur content of marine fuels. The quest for reduction was given a boost in 2006 when the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced phasing-in more stringent regulations to lower the amount of Sulphur content to 0.001 percent.
The IMO had mandated in May 2005 that marine fuels contain no more than 4.5 percent Sulphur. In May 2006, the organization ordered that the Sulphur content of fuels used in the Baltic Sea Environmental Control Area (ECA) be capped at 1.5 percent, with this restriction extending to the English Channel in November 2007 and to waters off North American coasts in 2012. The Sulphur content limit in ECAs was subsequently reduced to one percent in 2010 and to 0.1 percent in 2015, whilst the limit for non-ECA areas was reduced to 3.5 percent, January 2012.
In 2016, delegates to the MARPOOL meeting agreed that the global Sulphur cap of 3.50 weight percent outside of ECA boundaries be decreased to 0.50 weight percent, with effect from January 2020.
Methods of Compliance
The IMO designed the 2020 Sulphur regulation as an open policy without designating one compliance method but instead allowing market participants decide for themselves how best to comply. It does however provide three realistic methods for ship operators who are now faced with some stark choices, if they are to remain compliant:
using low Sulphur Fuel Oil (LSFO), created by an extended refining process, during which a greater percentage of the Sulphur content is removed.
using approved equivalent methods, such as exhaust gas cleaning systems or “scrubbers”, which “clean” the emissions from heavy Sulphur Fuel Oil (HSFO) before they are released into the atmosphere.
using liquefied natural gas (LNG), methanol or hydrogen as a fuel; considerably “greener” alternatives to oil, which has the potential to reduce SOx emissions by 90 to 95 percent.
CNOOC Limited has increased its oil and gas production by over 2 percent during the first half of the year and boosted its profit for the period as oil and gas sales rose by 4.4 percent.
In its report for the six months ended June 30, 2019, released on Thursday, CNOOC said it had increased oil and gas reserves and production levels.
The company’s amount of exploration and development activities reached a record high and, in the first half of the year, 16 new discoveries were made and 35 successful appraisal wells were drilled.
Among them, the appraisal of Bozhong 19-6 condensate gas field in Bohai, China achieved successes, adding proved in-place volume of exceeding 100 million tons of oil equivalent, and providing a strong resource foundation for sustainable development of Bohai.
In Stabroek block off Guyana, three new discoveries were made and the recoverable resources were further expanded to more than 6.0 billion barrels of oil equivalent (BOE).
The Glengorm discovery in the North Sea announced at the beginning of the year was proved to be the largest oil and gas discovery in U.K. in the past decade.
Production up in 1H 2019
Oil and gas production remained stable in the first half of the year, with a net production of 243 million BOE, representing an increase of 2.1% year on year.
Among the six new projects scheduled to start production this year, the Egina oilfield, Huizhou 32-5 oilfield comprehensive adjustment/Huizhou 33-1 oilfield joint development project and Appomattox project have started production in the first half of the year.
During the period, the company’s all-in-cost fell below $30 per BOE, reaching $28.99, representing a decrease of 8.9% year on year.
The company’s capital expenditure was RMB 33.7 billion, representing an increase of 60.5% year on year.
Oil and gas sales reached RMB 94.28 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 4.4%; net profits amounted to RMB 30.25 billion; and earnings per share was RMB 0.68, representing a significant increase of 18.7% year on year.
Yang Hua, Chairman of CNOOC Limited, commented: “In the first half of 2019, with determined efforts to develop the company’s business through innovation, the management and staff devoted efforts in exploration and development activities through a pragmatic and enterprising approach, successfully increased oil and gas reserves and production levels achieving outstanding results in high-quality development.”
Source: Offshoreenergytoday.com
The Government of Mozambique, Electricidade de Moçambique (EDM) and its project partners have announced that funding for the development of the Temane Regional Electricity Project (TREP), has been secured.
Project partners including Globeleq, eleQtra, and Sasol celebrated the agreement of various grants, loans and guarantees for the transmission line and substation components of the TREP.
In a company statement, Globeleq explained that this was agreed with a group of development financing institutions, including the World Bank, the Government of Norway (through the Norwegian Trust Fund managed by the World Bank), Islamic Development Bank, African Development Bank, and the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID).
The Development Bank of Southern Africa is currently finalising its financing agreements with the Government.
The project involves the construction of a 400kV high voltage transmission line, stretching from Vilanculos to Maputo, along with three new substations at Vilanculos, Chibuto and Matalane and upgrades to the Maputo substation.
The transmission line will then connect to the new 420MW gas-fired power plant to be constructed at Temane, for which a separate financing process is currently underway.
Gas will be supplied by Sasol and ENH from the PSA gas field and electricity will be sold to EDM under a 25-year tolling agreement.
Together, the power plant and transmission line will bring in $1.4 billion in new investment into the Mozambican power sector.
The total funding facility of nearly $543 million for the transmission line and related substations (the Temane Transmission Project), includes a $300 million grant from the World Bank; a $24 million grant from the Norwegian Trust Fund; a further $33 million grant provided by the African Development Bank; a $99.7 million lease and loan through the Islamic Development Bank; and a contribution from OFID of $36 million.
In addition, the total funding facility is expected to secure a $50 million loan from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) in partnership with the European Union through its Infrastructure Investment Programme South Africa (IIPSA).
The DBSA’s loan facility was approved by its Board of Directors, with the funding agreements currently being under negotiation and finalisation. In addition, the World Bank has also committed a guarantee of $120 million in support for the wider TREP project.
The World Bank Country Director for Mozambique, Mark Lundell commented on behalf of all of the participating DFI’s involved with the project’s funding: “It is fundamental to developing the Mozambican domestic power system, expanding energy access, and ensuring the secure, affordable, and sustainable power supply that is one of the key drivers of Mozambique’s economic and social development.”
“We are extremely pleased to be working with the Government and our partners, EDM and Sasol, on the Temane project,” commented Globeleq’s CEO, Paul Hanrahan, speaking on behalf of the Temane Energy Consortium which is developing the Temane power plant. “Securing the financing agreements for the transmission portion of the project builds incredible confidence amongst private investors. The Temane power plant will provide reliable baseload power at an extremely competitive price for the benefit of the people of Mozambique.”
EDM’s Chairman, Aly Sicola Impija, said, “Signing of these financing agreements represents a significant step forward in realising this important project, thereby contributing to the Government’s goals of universal access by 2030 and positioning of Mozambique as a regional energy hub.”
Sasol’s Managing Director for Mozambique, Ovidio Rodolfo, added: “Sasol is committed to contributing meaningfully to the industrialisation ambitions of Mozambique.
“We celebrate the success in securing financing support for the transmission portion of TREP and are proud to be working with our partners, EDM and the Globeleq consortium in realising this important initiative.”
The IMO had mandated in May 2005 that marine fuels contain no more than 4.5 percent Sulphur. In May 2006, the organization ordered that the Sulphur content of fuels used in the Baltic Sea Environmental Control Area (ECA) be capped at 1.5 percent, with this restriction extending to the English Channel in November 2007 and to waters off North American coasts in 2012. The Sulphur content limit in ECAs was subsequently reduced to one percent in 2010 and to 0.1 percent in 2015, whilst the limit for non-ECA areas was reduced to 3.5 percent, January 2012.
In 2016, delegates to the MARPOOL meeting agreed that the global Sulphur cap of 3.50 weight percent outside of ECA boundaries be decreased to 0.50 weight percent, with effect from January 2020.
Methods of Compliance
The IMO designed the 2020 Sulphur regulation as an open policy without designating one compliance method but instead allowing market participants decide for themselves how best to comply. It does however provide three realistic methods for ship operators who are now faced with some stark choices, if they are to remain compliant:
