Qatar Petroleum (QP) on Tuesday announced that it had struck a deal to enter three exploration projects off the coast of Kenya operated by Italy’s Eni.
Pending approval by the Kenyan government, the national oil company is set to take 25% stake in a consortium with rights to blocks L11A, L11B and L12 in the offshore Lamu basin.
Eni will retain 41.25% interest in the group, while France’s Total will maintain a 33.75% holding.
The blocks span 15,000 km2 of acreage in waters between 1,000 and 3,000 metres deep. In its statement, QP described the area as “a frontier and largely unexplored.”
“In line with its growth strategy, this opportunity strengthens Qatar Petroleum’s position in the exploration of frontier basins with significant hydrocarbon potential,” the company said.
Eni, which is already partnered with QP at projects in Oman, Mexico, Morocco and Mozambique, said the sale “further reinforces the continuously evolving strategic co-operation between the two companies.”
The price QP agreed to pay for the stake has not been disclosed. Under the transaction, the Doha-headquartered producer will take a 13.75% interest from Eni and a 11.25% stake from Total.
Oilfield services provider Halliburton Company has beating analyst estimates in its Q2 earnings, thanks to growth in international markets that offset lagging activity in North America, the company’s largest market.
Halliburton, one of the world’s largest oilfield services companies, adjusted net income of US$303 million, or US$0.35 per diluted share, for Q2 2019, excluding impairments and other charges.
The earnings per share exceeded the US$0.30 analyst consensus estimate in the Wall Street Journal.
The Q2 profit beat sent Halliburton’s stock surging more than 7 percent on the NYSE at 10:40 EDT, and 8 percent by 1:45pm EDT.
International revenues rose by 6 percent quarter on quarter, while North America revenue increased by 2 percent, to US$3.3 billion. Halliburton’s North American revenue was driven by higher stimulation, artificial lift and wireline activity onshore, and higher drilling activity in the Gulf of Mexico.
“We continue to build on the growth momentum internationally and successfully manage the market dynamics in North America,” Jeff Miller, Chairman, President and CEO at Halliburton said, commenting on the Q2 results. Again referring to North America, Miller noted:
“We are successfully executing our strategy of controlling what we can control and managing our business to perform well in any market conditions.”
In April this year, Halliburton expected total global offshore spending to jump 14 percent this year. Reporting the Q1 figures back then, Miller said, referring to North America, “the worst in the pricing deterioration is now behind us. For the next couple of quarters, I see demand for our services progressing modestly.”
On Friday, Halliburton’s competitor Schlumberger said that its first-half international revenue increased by 8 percent on the year, while North America land revenue declined 12 percent.
“These results reflect the normalization in global E&P spend that we were anticipating as international investment increases in response to the accelerating decline in the mature production base, and North America land investment decreases due to E&P operator cash flow constraints,” Schlumberger said.
Schlumberger’s chief operating officer Olivier Le Peuch—who was appointed to become chief executive officer effective August 1—said in prepared remarks on the Q2 results:
“North America land remains a challenging environment. Indeed, E&P operator focus on cash flow has capped activity and continued efficiency improvements have also reduced the number of active rigs and frac fleets—so far without major impact on oil production.”
Source: Oilprice.com
ENGIE and its partners Meridian and FONSIS have signed the EPC, O&M and finance contracts for two solar PV projects totalling 60MW.
The financing package for the two projects located in Kael and Kahone includes senior loans worth €38 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Finland-IFC Blended Finance for Climate Program, which helps spur private sector financing for climate change solutions in emerging markets, the European Investment Bank, and Proparco.
The solar PV plants are part of the Scaling Solar initiative in Senegal, conducted jointly by the Senegalese authorities and IFC.
ENGIE was selected as preferred bidder by Senegal’s Electricity Sector Regulation Commission (CRSE) in a tender launched in October 2017.
ENGIE and Meridiam hold a 40% shareholding in the project company. FONSIS, the Senegalese sovereign fund, is a shareholder with a 20% equity stake.
The projects are located in Kahone, in the Kaolack region, and in Touba-Kaël, in the Diourbel region; construction and operation of the plants will be managed and executed by ENGIE.
Yoven Moorooven, CEO of ENGIE Africa, said: “In an extremely competitive context, ENGIE reaffirms its commitment to be a long term player in Senegal and to bring clean and affordable energy to the country while creating sustainable jobs.
“These projects are perfectly in line with the strategy of the Group to become a leader in the zero carbon transition ‘as a service’ for our customers in Africa.”
South Africa’s IPP industry is shocked by the decision of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the Department of Energy (DoE) requesting the Head of the IPP Office, Karen Breytenbach, to vacate her position.
Breytenbach, a true leader, has been the champion for a diverse and sustainable energy future and been an active mouthpiece for an industry that is continuously battered by poor political governance.
With nine months left on her contract at the IPP Office, Breytenbach told Bloomberg reporters that “there was no reason” for early termination. “They want to appoint someone else,” she said.
In a Twitter post, Professor Anton Eberhard noted that Breytenbach has overseen R209 billion investment in 112 renewable energy projects since 2011 with “zero corruption”.
The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the RES4Africa Foundation have agreed to cooperate to increase the speed of renewable energy development in Africa in the pursuit of the continent’s sustainable development and climate goals.
The ‘Letter of Intent’ will see the two parties work together to explore public-private initiatives, knowledge creation opportunities, capacity building programmes and strategic dialogues to accelerate renewable energy deployment in Africa.
The RES4Africa Foundation works to address the water-energy-food nexus and promote the adoption of renewable energy in Africa.
IRENA estimates the continent could meet nearly a quarter of its energy needs from indigenous and clean renewable energy by 2030, but to realize this potential a step-up in renewable energy action is necessary.
“To achieve the sustainable development goals and tackle climate change we must grow the share of global energy supplied by renewables to 50% by mid-century,” said Francesco La Camera, Director-General of IRENA during the signing event.
“That requires a significant scale-up of renewable energy deployment. Stronger partnerships can accelerate the energy transformation lifting millions of people in rural villages across Africa out of energy poverty and delivering socioeconomic outcomes,” La Camera added.
Growing engagement in Africa
IRENA’s engagement with Africa on renewables dates back to the Agency’s formation nearly a decade ago. A key component of IRENA’s engagement and its effort to promote regional market integration in Africa, has been through the development of the Clean Energy Corridors.
IRENA’s work informed the objectives of the African Renewable Energy Initiative, which now targets to develop 300GW of renewable energy capacity across the continent by 2030.
IRENA analysis suggests a transformation of Africa’s energy sector with renewables by 2030, would result in carbon-dioxide emission reductions of up to 310 megatonnes per annum and create millions of jobs across the continent.
Source: Esi-Africa.com
Ghana’s only refinery, Tema Oil Refinery, has offered explanation to why the refinery incurred the GHS186 million loss in the first four months of the 2019.
According to the management of the refinery, the amount was as a result of financial interest charges and exchange rates differences on TOR’s outstanding legacy debts yet to be paid from the Energy Sector Levies Act (ESLA) proceeds.
The explanation follows reports that the West African nation’s refinery had lost about GHS 186million in the first four months of 2019.
“TOR made a gross profit in the first quarter of this year, “indicating that TOR is a potentially profitable company,” a statement signed by Daniel Appiah, General Manager in –charge of Finance said.
The statement admitted that TOR has been facing liquidity challenges culminating in the company’s inability to implement its annual budgets.
“TOR’s revenue targets are not being achieved due to lack of working capital to procure crude oil for processing on a continuous basis. However, fixed costs continue to be incurred,” the statement added.
Below is TOR’s Variance ReportVARIANCE REPORT 2019
The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has issued award letters for contracts to exchange crude oil for imported fuel.
A total of 15 groupings, with at least 34 companies in all, received award letters.
On May 2, 2019, NNPC announced that 132 firms had submitted bids for the 2019 Direct Sale of crude oil and Direct Purchase of petroleum products scheme (DSDP).
The corporation said it had saved $2.2 billion through the scheme since its inception.
The winning groups include: BP/Aym Shafa, Vitol/Varo, Trafigura/AA Rano, MRS,Oando/Cepsa, Bono/Akleen/Amazon/Eterna, Eyrie/Masters/Cassiva/Asean Group, Mercuria/Barbedos/Petrogas/Rainoil, UTM/Levene/Matrix/Petra Atlantic, TOTSA, Duke Oil, Sahara, Gunvor/Maikifi, Litasco /Brittania-U, Mocoh/Mocoh Nigeria.
The NNPC stated it would supply 10% of its crude oil export to India to help resolve a growing energy crisis in the country.
The Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Alhaji Mele Kyari, said Nigeria would continue to support India’s energy security challenge in whatever way it could.
Also, the recent Memorandum of Understanding in energy security between Nigeria and India would, further, strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.
Hence, NNPC would ensure the current volume of crude oil supply from Nigeria to India was secured for the collective interest of both countries.
The NNPC GMD said there were lots of untapped investment opportunities in the country’s Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) sector.
He expressed NNPC’s willingness to aggressively develop and improve LPG infrastructure and consumption in the
country.
The Indian High Commissioner, Mr. Abhay Thakur, thanked the NNPC’s management for the recent renewal of the crude oil lifting term contracts for three Indian companies that participated in the bid exercise.
Mr. Abhay demanded increased allocation in the crude oil supply from Nigeria, given the increasing energy needs of India.
He disclosed that India was ready to provide credit lines and expertise to help the NNPC revamp its massive oil infrastructure across the country.
“India is prepared to offer Nigeria, particularly the NNPC, a credit line mechanism to help her in the areas of refinery maintenance, construction, security, surveillance and anything possible.
“Our expertise in Information Technology (IT) is available as well. We are ready to cooperate with NNPC to boost our bilateral relations,” Mr. Abhay said.
Ghana’s downstream regulator, National Petroleum Authority (NPA), has held a stakeholders’ engagement on the Cylinder Recirculation Model (CRM) in Takoradi, in the Western Region of the West African country.
The goal of the policy is to ensure that 50% of Ghanaians had access to safe, clean and environmentally friendly LPG for increased domestic, commercial and industrial usage by 2030.
The CRM, being implemented by the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), is also to develop a market-driven structure to ensure safety, enhance the capacity of existing regulators and ensure the existence of robust and standard health, safety and environmental practices in the production, marketing and consumption of LPG.
Chief Executive Officer of the NPA, Mr Alhassan S. Tampuli, at the stakeholders’ engagement, stated that so far, 37,000 cylinders had been procured by the Authority to undertake the initial phase of the project.
Mr Tampuli pointed out that the relevant licences accompanied with structured safety protocols were to be maintained by marketers and distributors who would be franchised by the NPA.
The CRM would work at ensuring that consumers got the LPG products at specialized retail outlets, after the cylinder recall exercise by the NPA.The National LPG promotion policy seeks to provide direction on marketing and distribution of LPG in a safe and efficient manner whiles ensuring increased access of the commodity, the Chief Executive Officer of NPA explained.
The new value chain, under the CRM, would begin with imports and production, bulk storage, bulk transportation, automated bottling, bottle transportation, retail and users as against the old status of main suppliers, refining and gas processing, storage, transport and retail outlets bulk customer.
The move would provide over 4,500 direct jobs to interested individuals and companies wishing to be part of the LPG value chain.
“In addition to the above jobs created, the NPA will recruit a little over 200 safety auditors throughout the country, as well as resource its newly established health, safety security and the environmental department to ensure that all safety measures were adhered to,” he added.
The participants called for the availability of the fibreglass cylinders as against the steel ones, modern tubes and regulators to accompany the new cylinders to be distributed by the NPA.
A resident present at the one-day event said, “This is a good policy. I have experienced this in Ivory Coast where any size of the cylinder is filled for as low as any amount.”
Residents also urged to have the CRM closer to communities to enhance accessibility.
Some suggested that the CRM should not be used as a political tool but rather be given legislative backing to ensure that no government threw away such a laudable concept.
Vice Chairman of the LPG Marketers Association, Mr Gabriel Kumi, stated the initiative, though laudable, could only be successful if the government removed most of the taxes on the product to enable the ordinary Ghanaian to afford it.
He said price hikes, as a result of taxes, had in the past and continues to contribute to the low patronage of the community among rural folks.
Mr Kumi added, “Data for the first quarter of 2019 reveals a more worrying user trend…people still prefer their charcoal to LPG due to high prices.”
He entreated the government to turn its attention to the teething challenge to achieve the 50% target by 2030.
Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister, said the introduction of the model could contribute to a significant reduction in petroleum-related fires and accidents that had caused some families many woes.
Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister,
“We endorse the NPA’s effort to change the mode of LPG distribution and consumption in the country. It is also gratifying to know that steps have been taken to consolidate the activities in the LPG value chain with the view to reduce health, safety, security and environmental risks,” he said.
The 7th edition of East Africa International Arbitration Conference will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, this summer, on the 29th & 30th August, 2019, at the Radisson Blu Hotel.
The conference, which will be on the theme: ‘Government Contracting and Investment Disputes: Lessons for States and Investors’, will explore the full spectrum of government contracting from procurement and PPPs (public-private partnerships), tender disputes, dispute mitigation in government contracts, investment arbitration and arbitrating with governments in African centres.
EAIAC provides an unrivalled platform for International Arbitration practitioners, arbitration users, state counsel, academia, and in-house corporate lawyers to learn, share best practice, network and deliberate on International Arbitration as an important tool for promoting FDI in Africa.
“EAIAC equally provides a forum to promote, profile and celebrate Africa’s International Arbitration & Arbitrators,” a statement copied to energynewsafrica.com said.
Boosted by its long-term development blueprint, Vision 2030, and its mid-term development plan, the Big Four Agenda, Kenya is indeed the most fitting venue for the conference.
The country has experienced a surge in government contracting over the recent past and only last year, the Kenya government successfully defended two high profile investment arbitrations: an ICC arbitration relating to the power sector; and an ICSID arbitration in the mining sector.
Notably, across Kenya’s borders, various African countries have also published blueprints to be mid-level economies by the first half of this century.
The momentum for investment in Africa’s investment in renewable energy, infrastructure development, agriculture, healthcare and education continues despite global uncertainty.
These interests in African economies are further encouraged by the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) which entered into force on the 30th May, 2019 with 24 out of 55 African states having deposited their instruments of ratification.
“We see some governments making attempts to become transparent and efficient in contracting. All these developments set out a strong case for international arbitration and its development in the continent. It is for this reason that the East Africa International Arbitration platform exists, to promote the arbitration practice, support Africa centres build relationships and their profile, create a platform for shared experience, a place where arbitration practitioners and users can meet to network and acquire new skills,” it said.
The discussion topics would be delivered by leading Africa and international experts in discussion panels, Oxford-style debates and master classes, tackling some of the pertinent issues in Africa’s arbitration space.
The keynote address would be delivered by Hon. Justice David Maraga, Chief Justice, Republic of Kenya.
The speakers would attempt to respond to questions like; How can governments and investors better contract? Disputes are expensive, even for the winner-can they be mitigated? Can damages be better assessed and recovered? Do African International Arbitration Centres and Practitioners have a place in investment arbitration and many more.
Africa Arbitration Awards 2019
In addition to this year’s programme, the EAIAC would celebrate achievements and success in Africa Arbitration at the Inaugural Africa Arbitration Awards 2019.
Africa Arbitration Awards aims at celebrating, recognizing and honouring outstanding practitioners and leaders in the Africa arbitration ecosystem and would be celebrated at the Gala Dinner on Friday 30th August, 2019, at the Radisson Blu, Nairobi.
Awards Categories:
African Arbitrator of the Year
Young African Arbitrator of the Year
Leading Case Counsel Team
Innovation in Arbitration
Leading Case Service Provider
Nominations Process
Nominations are open to all International Arbitration practitioners in Africa. Self nomination is allowed.
Nominations would be subjected to a panel of judges for review.
Three shortlisted nominees would be announced for a round of voting by the Arbitration community.
The overall winners would be announced at the Awards Gala Dinner.
Nominations are open at www.AfricaArbitrationAwards.org We invite you to celebrate an amazing person in arbitration, including your contacts, colleagues, or team by nominating them in either of the categories above
Libya’s state-run oil and gas firm, National Oil Company and Schlumberger have signed an MoU aimed at establishing a specialized training and development center in Benghazi.
The training center is part of NOC’s focus on “upskilling the next generation of oil sector workers.”
The center will concentrate on professional excellence in exploration, drilling and petroleum engineering, and be equipped with the latest high-tech equipment to develop qualified technical staff necessary to sustain the sector.
A statement on the NOC website said the development programs will deliver on-the-job training and aim to upskill key engineering competencies to improve production rates, operational efficiency, and workplace safety.
Courses will prioritize the teaching of additional recovery methods, innovative directional drilling and fracturing techniques, as well as the development of shale oil reserves.
Schlumberger has also offered to host Libyan engineers and technicians through on-work training programs across the company’s worldwide operations.
Israel’s second offshore licensing round has attracted bids from five oil and gas companies.
The country’s ministry of energy has this week shared that twelve blocks received bids out of 10 that had been offered. The international companies that took part were Cairn, Soco, and Energean, with the Israeli firm being Ratio and Israel Opportunity.
The Ministry of Energy had tendered 19 exploration licenses, each one up to 400 km² in size. The 19 licenses were grouped into five zones, each up to 1,600 km² in size.
According to the ministry, the decision to market the areas in zones of 3-4 licenses was taken to provide a higher degree of compatibility between the geological structures within the exploration areas which could contain oil and natural gas reservoirs.
“Holding larger exploration areas will enable the companies to undertake more extensive and thorough geological and geophysical surveys,” the ministry said.
Israel’s Minister of Energy, Yuval Steinitz said: “The proposals that we received will increase significantly the number of oil and gas exploration licenses in Israel’s Exclusive Economic Zone, from 8 to 20.”
“The arrival of additional European companies to Israel, combined with the fact that the Leviathan platform will soon be connected to the shore and the ongoing work on the development of the Karish field, will lead to the breakup of the monopoly and enhance competition in this sector. We are continuing to work towards transforming Israel into a regional energy power.”
Soco and Cairn will further expand the presence of the international oil companies in the Israeli waters. Currently, the U.S. Noble Energy operates the Tamar gas field and is working to bring the giant Leviathan gas field online by the end of 2019.
In addition to Noble, the Greek company Energean is developing the Karish and Tanin fields which it bought from Noble Energy in 2016.
The Israeli energy ministry said that exploration licenses would be granted for a period of 3 years.
During this period, the licensees are expected to carry out the committed work program, which centers on examining the area.
After this, the licensees can request another two-year term extension, contingent upon an updated work program being submitted to include drilling a well in at least one of the licenses it respective clusters. The third licensing round is due to be held in 2021.
Goil, one of the oil marketing companies found to have under-delivered fuel to its customers, has rolled out a compensation package for them.
The Ghana Standards Authority (GSA) fined each of 10 cheating fuel stations GHS5000.
They were found out following an inspection of fuel measuring and dispensing instruments in parts of the country.
Following a request by the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers Ghana (COPEC GH) for reimbursement of customers, the Head of Fuels Marketing at Goil, Marcus Deo Dake apologized for the conduct of some of their fuel stations.
Subsequently, he noted that Goil “has put some promotional package in place to compensate loyal customers of Galelia and Mile 11 service stations who believe in the brand and have kept faith with us. The first promotional event took place from Thursday, 11 July to Saturday, 13 July 2019 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm each day at Galelia service station. The second event, which is scheduled to take place at Mile 11 service station has been delayed due to some maintenance works currently ongoing at the station. Customers of Mile 11 station will, therefore, be rewarded as soon as the station is fully reopened for business”.
The Nigerian Navy says it has begun discussion with its counterpart in Ghana for details on the circumstances surrounding suspected pirate attack on MV PAKSOY I, a Turkish flagged vessel.
Navy’s Director of Information, Commodore Suleman Dahun, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.Dahun said the general cargo vessel reportedly sailed from Cameroon and was heading to Abidjan when she came under attack on Saturday at about 124 nautical miles south west of Brass, Rivers.He said that 10 crew members of the ship were reportedly abducted, and that naval and other security agencies operating within the creeks and back waters had been tasked to ensure safe rescue of the crew.According to him, investigations are ongoing toward getting a lead to burst the hideout of the criminals and rescue the abducted persons.Dahun said that naval headquarters received a report of the suspected pirates’ attack on the vessel on Sunday, 18 hours after it purportedly occurred.He said the position of the vessel was plotted on the navy’s Maritime Domain Awareness system in accordance with its operational procedures, and that the vessel was spotted miles away from Nigerian-Benin Republic international maritime boundary.He said that when it was discovered that the vessel would be out of Nigerian waters in about two hours from then, the navy alerted Zone E, Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre (MMCC) headquarters in Cotonou.“On receipt of the information, the Commander, MMCC, informed other member-countries in Zone E and also Zone F headquarters as the vessel seemed to be headed westerly at the time.“The vessel was later intercepted around 0831 hours on July 15, 2019, by Ghana Navy Ship EHWOR and escorted to Tema Port, Ghana.“Preliminary reports from Ghana and IMB conveyed that the suspected pirates abducted 10 crew members of MV PAKSOY I.“The report further stated that seven crew members left onboard by the attackers sailed the vessel to Tema Port.“The Nigerian Navy is already interfacing with Ghana Navy to obtain further details on the circumstances surrounding the pirate attack on the vessel,” Dahun said.Source: shipsandports.com.ng
African Energy Chamber’s Angola President, Sergio Pugliese is expected to lead Angolan Services Companies to the upcoming Oil & Gas Meeting Day in Malabo on October 1 and 2, 2019.
“Angola is known for having strong local services companies.
“The growth of our local content is now accelerating, thanks to the reforms made by President João Lourenço and his administration. We now have Angolan companies that developed strong capabilities and are ready to expand beyond Angola. They are seeking partnerships and deals with other African and international services and technology companies, to serve both their regional expansion plans but also to further support the growth of the Angolan industry at home.
“The Oil & Gas Meeting Day provides the perfect platform to seal such deals,” Sergio Pugliese said in a press release issued by African Energy Chamber.
Malabo has positioned itself as the hub for services companies to engage in meaningful conversations on how to build the next generation of African oil & gas leaders and companies.
“The services industry is a massive job creator and a strong pillar of the global oil & gas industry. As cooperation amongst African oil markets increases, the need for services companies to step up their game and pursue an aggressive outreach has become a necessity.
“The African Energy Chamber strongly supports the Oil & Gas Meeting Day, a year of energy event organized by Equatorial Guinea’s National Alliance of Hydrocarbons Service Companies (NAHSCO),” the statement concluded.
Below is TOR’s Variance Report
VARIANCE REPORT 2019 
The National LPG promotion policy seeks to provide direction on marketing and distribution of LPG in a safe and efficient manner whiles ensuring increased access of the commodity, the Chief Executive Officer of NPA explained.
The new value chain, under the CRM, would begin with imports and production, bulk storage, bulk transportation, automated bottling, bottle transportation, retail and users as against the old status of main suppliers, refining and gas processing, storage, transport and retail outlets bulk customer.
The move would provide over 4,500 direct jobs to interested individuals and companies wishing to be part of the LPG value chain.
“In addition to the above jobs created, the NPA will recruit a little over 200 safety auditors throughout the country, as well as resource its newly established health, safety security and the environmental department to ensure that all safety measures were adhered to,” he added.
The participants called for the availability of the fibreglass cylinders as against the steel ones, modern tubes and regulators to accompany the new cylinders to be distributed by the NPA.
A resident present at the one-day event said, “This is a good policy. I have experienced this in Ivory Coast where any size of the cylinder is filled for as low as any amount.”
Residents also urged to have the CRM closer to communities to enhance accessibility.
Some suggested that the CRM should not be used as a political tool but rather be given legislative backing to ensure that no government threw away such a laudable concept.
Vice Chairman of the LPG Marketers Association, Mr Gabriel Kumi, stated the initiative, though laudable, could only be successful if the government removed most of the taxes on the product to enable the ordinary Ghanaian to afford it.
He said price hikes, as a result of taxes, had in the past and continues to contribute to the low patronage of the community among rural folks.
Mr Kumi added, “Data for the first quarter of 2019 reveals a more worrying user trend…people still prefer their charcoal to LPG due to high prices.”
He entreated the government to turn its attention to the teething challenge to achieve the 50% target by 2030.
Mr Kwabena Okyere Darko-Mensah, the Western Regional Minister, said the introduction of the model could contribute to a significant reduction in petroleum-related fires and accidents that had caused some families many woes.
Soco and Cairn will further expand the presence of the international oil companies in the Israeli waters. Currently, the U.S. Noble Energy operates the Tamar gas field and is working to bring the giant Leviathan gas field online by the end of 2019.
In addition to Noble, the Greek company Energean is developing the Karish and Tanin fields which it bought from Noble Energy in 2016.
The Israeli energy ministry said that exploration licenses would be granted for a period of 3 years.
During this period, the licensees are expected to carry out the committed work program, which centers on examining the area.
After this, the licensees can request another two-year term extension, contingent upon an updated work program being submitted to include drilling a well in at least one of the licenses it respective clusters. The third licensing round is due to be held in 2021. 
