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Gambia, Ghana Petroleum Regulators Sign Deal To Strengthen Upstream Oversight And Capacity Development
The Petroleum Commission of The Gambia and the Petroleum Commission of Ghana have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen cooperation in regulating and managing the upstream petroleum sector.
The agreement was signed on July 10 by Director General of the Petroleum Commission of The Gambia, Engr. Cany Jobe, and Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission of Ghana, Ms. Emeafa Hardcastle, during a three-day visit by Ghanaian delegation to Banjul.
The MoU establishes a framework for cooperation in upstream petroleum regulation, local content, petroleum data management, legal and regulatory frameworks, and compliance monitoring and enforcement.
It also provides for institutional strengthening and capacity development through staff exchanges, training, study visits, internships, secondments, technical assistance and joint programmes.
During the visit, the Ghanaian delegation paid courtesy calls on The Gambia’s Minister of Petroleum, Energy and Mines, Nani Juwara, and the Gambia National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).
The minister welcomed the delegation and conveyed his regards to his Ghanaian counterpart, Dr. John Abdulai Jinapor, Ghana’s Minister for Energy and Green Transition. He reaffirmed the longstanding relationship between the two countries and The Gambia government’s commitment to strengthening cooperation between their petroleum institutions.
During the technical engagement, the two commissions exchanged experiences on regulatory governance, institutional development, upstream licensing and licence management, local content implementation, public procurement, institutional financing, stakeholder engagement, human resource development, and collaboration with Parliament and other oversight institutions.
Describing the agreement as a practical partnership founded on institution-building and shared learning, Engr. Cany Jobe said strong institutions were essential to ensuring petroleum resources deliver lasting national benefits.
“A country may discover petroleum, but without capable institutions, clear rules, technical discipline, public trust and responsible oversight, the opportunity can easily be weakened,” she said.
Jobe said while petroleum discoveries depend on geology, science and investment, it is strong institutions that ultimately determine whether those discoveries translate into sustainable national benefits.
She added that this was why the partnership with the Petroleum Commission of Ghana was significant.
She said Ghana’s petroleum sector provides valuable lessons for frontier petroleum jurisdictions such as The Gambia.
Ghana began commercial oil production in 2010 and currently produces oil from three fields: Jubilee, TEN and Sankofa-Gye Nyame.
For her part, Emeafa Hardcastle described the signing as “far more than a formal act” and “a landmark moment and a powerful symbol of our mutual commitment to a brighter future.”
She said the agreement comes at a time when African petroleum-producing and frontier countries face common challenges, including increasing competition for investment and the realities of the global energy transition.
She added that collaboration among African regulators had therefore become increasingly important, enabling institutions to leverage their complementary strengths, deepen technical cooperation and pursue mutual development.
Emphasising that implementation would determine the success of the partnership, Hardcastle said: “Our most important task begins: turning the commitments in our MoU into meaningful, on-the-ground results.”
She expressed confidence that the partnership would strengthen not only the two institutions but also the enduring friendship between the peoples of Ghana and The Gambia.
Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Mines, Abdoulie Jallow, representing the minister, reaffirmed the ministry’s full support for the partnership. He described the MoU as a reflection of Pan-African cooperation and the shared belief that African countries can accelerate their development by learning from one another.
Under the MoU, the two commissions will establish a Joint Steering and Oversight Committee to guide implementation, develop annual work programmes and coordinate technical cooperation through specialised sub-committees.
The Petroleum Commission of The Gambia expressed its appreciation to the Petroleum Commission of Ghana for its visit, friendship and continued partnership, as well as to the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy and Mines, the Commission’s Board, management and staff, and all stakeholders whose support contributed to the success of the visit.
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Ghana, ENI Discuss Oil, Gas Production And Future Investment Plans
Ghana’s Minister for Energy and Green Transition, Dr. John Abdulai Jinapor, has met a delegation from Italian energy company ENI, led by Guido Brusco, Chief Operating Officer of Global Natural Resources, to discuss the company’s operations in the West African country.
ENI has operated in Ghana since 2009 through the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) block, which includes the Sankofa and Gye Nyame fields.
According to Jinapor, the meeting focused on ENI’s performance in Ghana’s upstream petroleum sector and opportunities for future investment.
The minister commended the company for reversing declining oil production through the successful drilling of new wells.
He also praised ENI for producing 282 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, which supports power generation, and for maintaining operational reliability of more than 99.9%.
The talks also covered ongoing exploration activities, including appraisal wells, as well as future investment plans and potential field extensions.
In a post on social media, Jinapor said he reaffirmed the government’s commitment to maintaining a stable, transparent and investor-friendly business environment to encourage responsible investment, increase production, strengthen energy security and deliver long-term benefits to Ghanaians.
“I look forward to continued collaboration with ENI and all our industry partners as we work together to maximize the value of our nation’s natural resources,” he said.
Ghana: EPA Shuts Down Dukes Fuel Station In Kasoa Over Sanitation Concerns
Following the inspection, the Kasoa Municipal Assembly ordered the immediate closure of the station until the drains are desilted and all sanitation concerns have been addressed.
Dawood said the EPA and the Assembly would continue enforcing environmental regulations to ensure businesses comply with sanitation standards and help reduce the risk of flooding.
“We assessed the area and found that the drains were choked, causing water to overflow onto the road,” Dawood said.
“We want residents, shops and businesses to take responsibility for environmental sanitation to help reduce flooding in Kasoa.”
He said authorities would also close other businesses that fail to desilt drains in front of their premises.
“This is necessary, and we will meet with the management to discuss the way forward,” he said. Ukraine Says It Hit Russian Fuel Tankers Supplying Occupied Crimea
Ukraine has launched large-scale strikes against Russian tankers transporting fuel to occupied Crimea, Ukrainian officials said, as Kyiv seeks to disrupt Moscow’s military logistics on the peninsula.
The campaign follows Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries, including the Omsk refinery in Siberia, Russia’s largest, located about 2,500 km (1,550 miles) from the Ukrainian border.
Ukrainian officials say the attacks have contributed to fuel shortages in Russia.
Commander of Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces, Robert Brovdi, said Ukrainian forces struck 19 Russian tankers, a cargo ship and a ferry between July 6 and July 8, including nine tankers during the night of July 7.
Ukrainian Navy spokesperson Dmytro Pletenchuk told public broadcaster Suspilne that Russia had shifted fuel deliveries to Crimea by sea after Ukraine disrupted overland supply routes.
“They had few options left. It’s either a land corridor or a sea connection,” Pletenchuk said. “As far as we know, they don’t use the Kerch Bridge for such transportation in the necessary volumes.”
The Kerch Bridge, which links Russia to Crimea, was damaged in a truck bombing in 2022 that ignited a fuel train travelling across the bridge.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told the Financial Times that Ukraine had shifted its focus to Crimea after disabling Russia’s oil offloading terminal at Novorossiysk on the Black Sea.
“We were slowing down the militarisation of our peninsula occupied by Russia,” Zelenskiy said.
“We cut off the logistics and took control of the fuel and energy complex.”
The Ukrainian president’s representative office in Crimea said the strikes had triggered what it described as “a management crisis” on the peninsula.
It said fuel sales to civilians had been suspended in Sevastopol and that power outages had affected more than a dozen districts.
Ukraine said it also carried out additional strikes on military targets in Crimea over the past week, including attacks on the Saky and Hvardiiske (Guardske) airfields and the Kerch oil transshipment terminal.
Russia also came under renewed drone attacks, with Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin saying Ukraine launched one of its largest drone attacks on the Russian capital in two years.
Russian authorities said they intercepted more than 400 drones headed toward Moscow on July 7, the opening day of a NATO summit in Ankara.
“When our drones weren’t flying to Moscow and St. Petersburg, Putin didn’t think much about it. He understood that the war was far from the Kremlin,” Zelenskiy told the Financial Times.
“When not a hundred drones, but a thousand would start flying to Moscow … this would be a moment like a new page on the path to ending the war,” he said.
Algeria: SONATRACH Delivers First LNG Cargo To Germany’s Wilhelmshaven Terminal
Algeria’s state-owned energy company SONATRACH has delivered its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo to Germany at the Wilhelmshaven 1 floating regasification terminal, the company said.
In a statement, SONATRACH said the cargo was loaded at its GL2Z liquefaction complex in Bethioua, Algeria, and transported aboard the TESSALA, an LNG carrier owned by the company.
The company said the delivery supports its strategy to expand the marketing of its gas resources in strategic, high-potential markets while demonstrating the flexibility of its LNG trading operations.
SONATRACH said it plans to increase LNG exports to the German market, strengthening its position as a supplier and contributing to Europe’s energy security.
Ghana: ACEP, SolarTaxi Graduate First Cohort Of 24 Women In Green Energy Skills Program
The Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP), a Ghanaian policy think tank, in partnership with SolarTaxi, has graduated the first cohort of its Green Energy Technology Capacity Development Programme (GET-CaDeP), equipping 24 young women with practical skills in solar, electric vehicle (EV) and battery technologies.
The participants completed four months of intensive training and industry internships designed to prepare them for careers in Ghana’s clean energy sector while helping to narrow the gender gap in the country’s growing green technology industry.
Read Also:Ghana’s Energy Commission Signs MoU With Abu Dhabi’s Global South UtilitiesSpeaking at the graduation ceremony, ACEP’s Policy Lead for Petroleum and Conventional Energy, Kodzo Yaotse, said the initiative was a deliberate effort to address the underrepresentation of women in Ghana’s clean energy and technology sectors.
SolarTaxi Chief Executive Officer Jorge Appiah commended the graduates for their commitment and resilience in pursuing technical fields traditionally dominated by men. He encouraged them to see the programme as a foundation for future leadership roles and careers in Ghana’s energy sector.


