Mammoet, which already holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications, said its decision to pursue ISO 19443 was driven by its focus on quality assurance and service as it works with industry partners to develop construction strategies for next-generation nuclear reactors.
The certification process took three years and included an audit of the company’s culture, processes, training, engineering and health and safety systems.
The certificate will be awarded to Mammoet by DNV France, the third-party certification body for ISO 19443.
Davide Andreani, managing director of Mammoet Europe Projects, said the certification demonstrated the company’s commitment to maintaining industry leadership and supporting the development of the nuclear sector.
Mammoet has worked in the nuclear power industry for decades and has supported projects involving companies including EDF, ITER, RWE, Framatome, Bruce Power and PreussenElektra. Trending Now
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Mammoet Becomes First Heavy-Lifting And Transport Company To Obtain ISO 19443 Nuclear Certification
Mammoet, a global provider of engineered heavy lifting and transport services, has become the first company in its industry to obtain ISO 19443 certification, an international quality management standard for organisations operating in the nuclear power sector.
ISO 19443, published in 2018, sets quality management requirements specifically for organisations in the nuclear energy supply chain.
The standard provides a framework covering areas including sales, operations, human resources and procurement.
Mammoet, which already holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications, said its decision to pursue ISO 19443 was driven by its focus on quality assurance and service as it works with industry partners to develop construction strategies for next-generation nuclear reactors.
The certification process took three years and included an audit of the company’s culture, processes, training, engineering and health and safety systems.
The certificate will be awarded to Mammoet by DNV France, the third-party certification body for ISO 19443.
Davide Andreani, managing director of Mammoet Europe Projects, said the certification demonstrated the company’s commitment to maintaining industry leadership and supporting the development of the nuclear sector.
Mammoet has worked in the nuclear power industry for decades and has supported projects involving companies including EDF, ITER, RWE, Framatome, Bruce Power and PreussenElektra.
Mammoet, which already holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications, said its decision to pursue ISO 19443 was driven by its focus on quality assurance and service as it works with industry partners to develop construction strategies for next-generation nuclear reactors.
The certification process took three years and included an audit of the company’s culture, processes, training, engineering and health and safety systems.
The certificate will be awarded to Mammoet by DNV France, the third-party certification body for ISO 19443.
Davide Andreani, managing director of Mammoet Europe Projects, said the certification demonstrated the company’s commitment to maintaining industry leadership and supporting the development of the nuclear sector.
Mammoet has worked in the nuclear power industry for decades and has supported projects involving companies including EDF, ITER, RWE, Framatome, Bruce Power and PreussenElektra. Ghana Energy Commission Engages Logistics Sector On EV Charging, Energy Conservation
Ghana’s Energy Commission has engaged participants at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Ghana’s 2026 Logistics and Transport Conference and Annual General Meeting on energy conservation and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.
The commission outlined its role in regulating EV charging infrastructure, saying regulations governing the subsector are currently before Parliament awaiting passage. It also highlighted practical measures transport and logistics operators can adopt to improve energy efficiency.
The commission also addressed technical aspects of EV charging infrastructure, including standards, grid readiness and the siting of charging stations along key transport corridors.
The presentation prompted questions from fleet operators, logistics executives and transport planners on the cost of EV adoption, the pace of charging station deployment and how businesses could prepare for anticipated policy changes.
Commission officials responded to questions on both policy and technical issues, with participants commending the team for making the subject accessible and relevant to the sector.
The session highlighted the growing role of the transport and logistics industry in Ghana’s energy transition and formed part of the Energy Commission’s broader engagement with professional bodies as it works to shape and regulate the country’s evolving energy landscape.
Malawi: ESCOM Urges Communities, Chiefs To Combat Electricity Infrastructure Vandalism
Malawi’s Electricity Supply Corporation (ESCOM) has launched a week-long campaign in Kasungu, Lilongwe and Salima districts to urge communities to help protect electricity infrastructure from vandalism.
The campaign follows the vandalism of four transformers in Kasungu district within four weeks, leaving several communities without power, ESCOM said.
The utility loses more than 3 billion kwacha ($1.8 million) annually repairing vandalised equipment, funds that could otherwise be used for grid expansion, ESCOM said.
Speaking during meetings with traditional leaders and police officers, ESCOM Chief Public Relations and Communications Officer Pilirani Phiri called on communities to take greater responsibility for protecting power infrastructure.
“Let’s see the transformer as development, a hub for local business, a functioning health centre, and the future for children who need light to study at night,” Phiri said.
Traditional leaders expressed concern over the vandalism and pledged to strengthen community surveillance. Senior Chiefs Kaomba and Mwase directed subordinate chiefs to increase monitoring and organise night patrols to protect transformers in their areas.
Police officers from Kanengo and Kasungu urged residents not to protect or assist people involved in the theft or vandalism of ESCOM installations.
ESCOM said it was working with traditional leaders, local security structures and civil society organisations to strengthen community efforts to prevent infrastructure theft and protect electricity supplies.
Traditional leaders expressed concern over the vandalism and pledged to strengthen community surveillance. Senior Chiefs Kaomba and Mwase directed subordinate chiefs to increase monitoring and organise night patrols to protect transformers in their areas.
Police officers from Kanengo and Kasungu urged residents not to protect or assist people involved in the theft or vandalism of ESCOM installations.
ESCOM said it was working with traditional leaders, local security structures and civil society organisations to strengthen community efforts to prevent infrastructure theft and protect electricity supplies. Nigeria: REA Launches Company To Manage Publicly Funded Renewable Energy Assets
Nigeria has established the Renewable Asset Management Company (RAMCO) to manage and sustain publicly funded renewable energy assets, the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) said on Wednesday.
The company was launched by Abubakar Aliyu, managing director of the REA, which oversees Nigeria’s rural electrification programmes.
Aliyu said an assessment of seven solar hybrid power projects deployed under the first phase of the agency’s Energising Education Programme found that only three were in good or usable condition.
The deterioration was not caused by engineering failures but by inadequate systems for maintaining the assets after commissioning, he said.
“Of the seven, only three were in good or usable condition,” Aliyu said. “Not because of engineering failure, but because we had not adequately institutionalised what happens after the commissioning of the project.”
Since 2017, the REA has deployed 82 megawatts (MW) of solar hybrid generation capacity across 22 federal universities and three teaching hospitals through the Energising Education Programme, Aliyu said.
Another 150 MW is either under construction or in the pipeline through the Distributed Access through Renewable Energy Scale-Up (DARES) programme, the National Public Sector Solarisation Initiative and a project being implemented by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) under the education ministry, he said.
The assessment identified gaps in maintenance, revenue collection and asset management, Aliyu said.
“There was no sustainable maintenance regime, no dependable revenue mechanism, and critically, no institution whose primary responsibility was to preserve those assets throughout their economic lives,” he said.
Those gaps led to the creation of RAMCO, which Aliyu described as the REA’s institutional response to the problem.
RAMCO is intended to reduce reliance on repeated government appropriations to maintain and renew publicly funded renewable energy projects, he said.
“RAMCO is certainly not another request for treasury funding. Its purpose is precisely the opposite,” Aliyu said. “To move the long-term sustainability burden away from repeated public appropriation and onto a commercially sustainable platform capable over time of attracting private capital.”
The company will manage publicly financed renewable energy assets, contract operators, meter electricity consumption, collect revenue and set aside funds to replace components when they reach the end of their useful lives, Aliyu said.
“If a battery or inverter requires replacement in year 8, we should not return to the Ministry of Finance, and we should be able to have an economic value to replace that battery or inverter,” he said. “The money should already be there, and the planning has to start today.”
Aliyu said RAMCO was not intended to extract profit from public institutions or become another channel for treasury funding.
“The tariff, therefore, should reflect what is required to operate, maintain, renew the system over its economic life,” he said.
Lazarus Angbazo, chief executive officer of Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria (InfraCorp), said RAMCO was created to address the challenge of maintaining infrastructure after commissioning.
“What happens to an infrastructure project after the commissioning ceremony is over?” Angbazo asked.
“We spend enormous amounts of time, effort, and capital designing, financing, and building the infrastructure. We celebrate going to commission, but the real economic life of that asset is only beginning at the point of commissioning.”
Professionally managed renewable energy assets could also create opportunities for private-sector participation in operations and maintenance, equipment manufacturing, metering, digital monitoring, insurance and financing, Angbazo said.
Ghana: PETROSOL Paid Over GH¢2 Billion In Taxes, Regulatory Margins Since 2014, CEO Says
PETROSOL Platinum Energy PLC, a Ghanaian ISO-certified oil marketing company, has cumulatively paid more than GH¢2 billion in taxes and regulatory margins since it began full operations in 2014, Chief Executive Officer Michael Bozumbil has said.
Bozumbil said the company had also consistently repaid its bank loans as they fell due and settled payments owed to suppliers and service providers on time.
“We have consistently paid our dealers’ margins and transporters’ claims,” he said during an official ceremony at the Ghana Stock Exchange to mark PETROSOL’s admission to the Ghana Fixed Income Market to raise GH¢200 million to fund the next phase of its operations.
“We have consistently paid our staff remuneration on time and settled all their pension fund contributions fully, including their Tier 3 (Provident Fund) contributions,” he added.
Bozumbil said PETROSOL had also consistently delivered high-quality petroleum products to customers across Ghana, earning the company a National Quality Award.
He said the company had consistently met regulatory requirements, particularly in quality, safety and environmental management, which had enabled it to secure three International Organization for Standardization (ISO) certifications covering quality management, environmental management, and occupational health and safety management systems.
PETROSOL’s journey began in 2006 as a petroleum business management and consulting firm.
In 2013, the company decided to transition into an oil marketing company, with the vision of building a brand that would serve as a model of excellence in the industry.
Bozumbil said the company obtained its licence from the National Petroleum Authority (NPA) in 2013 and began operations in February 2014.
“The journey has not been easy. We have faced challenges, uncertainties and difficult moments, but through perseverance, faith in God, the commitment of our people and partners, and the loyalty of our customers, we have been able to build a credible Ghanaian brand that is highly respected for its commitment to quality, customer service, ethical business, financial discipline, good corporate governance and international best practices,” he said.
PETROSOL has expanded from an initial four retail stations to 109 stations over the past 13 years, Bozumbil said.
The company has also invested in staff development, particularly through the PETROSOL Women Network initiative, as well as community development through its corporate social responsibility programmes.
Bozumbil said the company had achieved the growth despite operating through some of the most challenging periods in Ghana’s economic history.
He cited the 2014-2015 energy crisis, the introduction of petroleum price deregulation in 2015, the banking sector crisis in 2018, the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022 and Ghana’s economic crisis in 2022-2023 as some of the major challenges the company had faced.
He also cited the 2026 conflict between the United States and Iran as a recent global challenge affecting the business environment.
“This is to emphasise the fact that PETROSOL is a resilient business,” Bozumbil said.
Despite the progress, he said the company recognised that it still had significant room for growth and would need to secure additional capital to finance its next phase of expansion.
“What brought us here will certainly not take us there. Therefore, to fund our next phase of growth, which requires substantial capital, it is imperative that we leverage the credibility of the brand to secure patient capital to grow exponentially and sustainably,” he said.
“The home of patient capital obviously is the Ghana Stock Exchange,” Bozumbil added.
The company is seeking to raise GH¢200 million through its admission to the Ghana Fixed Income Market to support its next phase of growth.
Ghana: Energy Minister Urges Reliable, Affordable Power To Drive Africa’s Industrial Growth
Ghana’s Minister for Energy and Green Transition, Dr John Abdulai Jinapor, has said Africa’s industrial transformation will require reliable electricity, affordable power, resilient grids, financially viable utilities and sustainable contracts, as well as policies that convert the continent’s resources into industry, jobs and prosperity.
Jinapor said Africa’s future also depended on stronger collaboration among governments, investors, development finance institutions, utilities, technology providers, academia and civil society.
“Our objective must not simply be to finance more energy infrastructure. It must be to build an African energy system capable of powering an industrial, competitive and prosperous continent,” Jinapor said in a keynote speech at the Future of Energy Conference 2026, organised by the Africa Centre for Energy Policy (ACEP) in Accra.
He said reliable, affordable and scalable electricity was essential for manufacturing, mineral processing, value addition and job creation.
“Africa must mobilise the right investments, strengthen policy coordination and build energy systems that can support value addition, manufacturing and jobs,” he said.
Jinapor said the continent’s energy challenge now extended beyond connecting households to electricity and must also address the power needs of factories, industrial clusters and other productive sectors capable of deepening local value chains and reducing dependence on raw commodity exports.
The two-day conference, held under the theme “Powering Africa’s Industrial Transformation: Energy Systems for Value Addition and Competitiveness”, brought together government officials, innovators, investors, academics, regulators and energy professionals from across Africa.
Jinapor said industrialisation required electricity at scale, with reliable supply, predictable tariffs and good power quality.
Ghana’s electricity consumption rose to 25,836 GWh in 2025, about 4.7% higher than in 2024, he said.
To meet rising electricity demand while ensuring affordability, the government has enacted the Energy Commission (Planning and Competitive Procurement of Additional Electricity Generation Capacity) Regulations, 2025, L.I. 2508, which provides a framework for the competitive procurement of new generation capacity and aims to secure value for money.
“Generation must be procured based on need, cost and value for money, in the interests of the economy, consumers and the long-term sustainability of the sector,” Jinapor said.
On reforms in the energy sector, he said the government had renegotiated agreements with independent power producers, securing about $252 million in savings while protecting investor confidence and preserving the sanctity of contracts.
“We have cleared approximately $1.47 billion in legacy energy sector debt. We have strengthened the Cash Waterfall Mechanism, increasing declared sector payments from approximately GH¢6 billion to approximately GH¢15 billion. We have also restored the $500 million World Bank Partial Risk Guarantee for the Sankofa Gas Project,” he said.
Benjamin Boakye, Executive Director of ACEP, said Africa’s energy future depended on the credibility of reforms, investor confidence and policy consistency.
He warned that weak regulation and unpredictable market conditions continued to discourage capital inflows into the energy sector.
“Investment will only come where there is predictability, transparency and a clear path to recovery for capital,” Boakye said.
“If we want an energy system that serves industrial growth, then we must design market rules that are fair, credible and sustainable.”
He said energy planning must be grounded in realism, taking into account utility finances, the cost of capital and the need to build systems capable of supporting long-term development.
Cloudine Sagam of the Africa Miners Development Centre also stressed the link between energy and mining, saying mineral beneficiation and local value addition could not succeed without dependable and competitively priced electricity.
“The mining sector cannot talk about value addition without talking about energy,” she said. “If Africa wants to process more of its own minerals, then it must ensure stable, affordable electricity for industry and mining operations.”
She said Africa’s mineral wealth presented a major opportunity for industrialisation, but that opportunity would remain limited unless governments aligned energy policy with mining policy, infrastructure planning and industrial development objectives.
The conference ended with calls for integrated planning, stronger governance and financing frameworks capable of attracting private capital while protecting the public interest.
More than 400 participants from the energy, mining, policy and investment sectors attended the two-day conference in Accra.
The discussions reinforced a central message for Ghana and the wider continent: energy is not simply a sectoral issue but a foundation for industrial transformation, job creation and economic competitiveness.
Gambia: Energy Minister Defends Power Record Despite Persistent Outages
The Gambia’s Minister for Petroleum, Energy and Mines Nani Juwara has defended the government’s record on electricity access, saying it has made significant gains in expanding access despite power cuts in parts of the country.
Juwara urged Gambians frustrated by persistent outages to remain patient, saying plans were in place to resolve the problem, KERR FATOU reported.
Addressing a rally of the governing National People’s Party in New Jeshwang over the weekend, Juwara acknowledged growing public concern over electricity shortages, including nighttime outages in some communities.
He said, however, that the current difficulties should be weighed against what he described as substantial improvements in the energy sector since President Adama Barrow took office.
Juwara credited the administration with expanding household access to electricity and said rising consumption was partly a consequence of the country’s development.
“President Barrow made it possible for several meters to be installed in one compound, whereas previously only one meter was found per compound,” Juwara said. “Air conditioning is now common in homes and offices, compared to the past when only fans were available.”
The minister said about 90% of communities in The Gambia now have access to electricity, up from 43% before Barrow took office.
Juwara said the administration was working towards Barrow’s pledge to extend electricity access to every community in the country by the end of 2026.
But expanding access has also placed greater pressure on the country’s power supply, Juwara said. As more homes and businesses connect to the grid and use appliances such as air conditioners, demand has increased, creating additional challenges for the country’s electricity infrastructure.
He urged Gambians to remain patient, saying equipment failures and other technical problems were inevitable but that the government was working to address the disruptions.
“The ministry is doing everything possible to end the electricity crisis,” Juwara said, adding that officials were pressing NAWEC, the national water and electricity utility, to find a lasting solution to the power difficulties.
Juwara also pointed to New Jeshwang as an example of what he described as the administration’s broader development record.
He said the community had changed considerably from a period when roads were poor, electricity supplies were unreliable and students struggled to study under difficult conditions.
He attributed those improvements to Barrow’s government, saying the president’s tenure had brought significant changes to the area.
Juwara’s remarks came as the governing party seeks to make its development record a central part of its case for another term in office. With the December presidential election approaching, he urged voters to support Barrow again, portraying another mandate as recognition of what the president has delivered since taking office.
Qatar Loses $24 Billion as LNG Exports Collapse 96%
Six months since the Iran war crippled Qatar’s LNG exports via the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s second-largest liquefied natural gas exporter has lost $24 billion in sales as exports tumbled by as much as 96%, Reuters calculations showed on Wednesday.
The number of LNG cargoes that Qatar has managed to export crashed to just 18, down from 509 cargoes shipped from Qatar in the same period of last year, per data from data intelligence firm ICIS cited by Reuters.
Qatar’s LNG exports are arguably the biggest energy commodity casualty of the war, as Qatar hasn’t managed to sneak as many vessels out of Hormuz as the UAE, for example, has done in recent months.
The slashed exports from Qatar have wide-ranging implications for the global LNG and gas markets, with U.S. LNG exports benefitting from high prices and no-conflict-zone origin and Europe left without Qatari shipments, struggling to fill gas storage sites ahead of the winter.
The de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz has trapped about 20% of daily global LNG flows. In addition, Iranian drone and missile strikes on energy infrastructure in the region have damaged Qatar’s key LNG liquefaction complex, Ras Laffan.
Qatar’s state firm QatarEnergy expects the damage to the Ras Laffan LNG complex, the world’s single largest LNG-producing facility, to cost it about $20 billion per year in lost revenue and to take up to five years to repair.
QatarEnergy has been forced to declare force majeure for up to five years on some long-term LNG contracts.
The LNG crunch has sent Asian and European gas prices to the highest levels in three years and stoked fears about rebuilding gas inventories in Europe ahead of the next winter.
Ghana Begins Work On Petroleum Downstream Infrastructure Master Plan
Ghana has begun work on a Petroleum Downstream Infrastructure Master Plan, with a 10-member steering committee tasked with overseeing the process.
Energy and Green Transition Minister Dr. John Abdulai Jinapor on Monday inaugurated the committee, which includes representatives from the ministry, Tema Oil Refinery Ltd, Petroleum Hub Development Corporation, the National Petroleum Authority (NPA), BOSTenergies, the Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors (CBOD), the Chamber of Oil Marketing Companies (COMAC) and Ghana National Gas Company Ltd.
The committee, chaired by Deputy Energy and Green Transition Minister Richard Gyan-Mensah, has between six and 12 months to submit its report.
Jinapor said the master plan was a critical step towards addressing infrastructure gaps, improving the efficiency and utilisation of existing assets, strengthening downstream petroleum logistics and creating a more predictable environment for investment.
“Our objective is to develop a practical and implementable roadmap that responds to Ghana’s future energy needs while supporting economic growth and energy security,” he said.
“I look forward to the Committee delivering a Plan that will guide policy, inform investment decisions and drive meaningful transformation in Ghana’s petroleum downstream sector,” he added.
“Our objective is to develop a practical and implementable roadmap that responds to Ghana’s future energy needs while supporting economic growth and energy security,” he said.
“I look forward to the Committee delivering a Plan that will guide policy, inform investment decisions and drive meaningful transformation in Ghana’s petroleum downstream sector,” he added.
Siemens Energy To Divest Industrial Unit In Bid To Focus On Gas Turbines, Grids
Siemens Energy plans to sell most of its division supplying industrial customers, it said on Tuesday, in a move aimed at sharpening the supplier of power equipment’s focus on the booming utility sector.
Siemens Energy’s Transformation of Industry (ToI) business unit – which among other products makes steam turbines and electrolysers – accounted for €5.7 billion ($6.7 billion), or 15%, of group sales last year, with a profit margin of 11%.
The announcement confirms the company’s efforts to simplify its set-up, which is mostly focused on customers requiring components to produce electricity, including gas turbines and grid equipment.
Those divisions have higher profit margins than ToI, benefiting from an increased demand for generation capacity and network equipment to power data centres needed for artificial intelligence technology.
CEO Christian Bruch previously said that ToI faced different demand cycles than Siemens Energy’s other divisions and was in competition with them for limited investments, arguments that are often made when it comes to spinning off of businesses.
“If we don’t change our structure, we limit what Transformation of Industry can achieve,” Bruch said in a statement, adding the group’s focus was on its divisions offering higher returns.
Siemens Energy said it could bring in external investors for ToI and also flagged a “potential capital markets transaction”, adding it would retain a minority stake.
The plans around ToI – which employs around 17,000, or around 17% of Siemens Energy’s total staff – come as other industrial firms also seek ways to streamline, including Thyssenkrupp which is seeking to spin off its materials trading unit.
Sources told Reuters in early August that the group’s supervisory board would discuss the plans for ToI, which supplies the oil and gas, chemicals, paper, cement and maritime sectors, this week.
($1 = 0.8570 euros)
WAPCo To Suspend Gas Transportation To Togo, Benin For Five Days
West African Gas Pipeline Company Limited (WAPCo) will temporarily suspend natural gas transportation from Nigeria to Togo and Benin from Aug. 28 to Sept. 1 due to maintenance and modernization work on the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP), the company said.
WAPCo, which operates the pipeline transporting gas from Nigeria through Benin, Togo and Ghana, said in a statement issued on Aug. 21 that the work was aimed at maintaining the integrity of the infrastructure, improving reliability and upgrading equipment.
In Togo, the work will include replacing the subsea valve on the Lome lateral and inspecting the pipeline, WAPCo said.
In Benin, the company will conduct an internal inspection of the Cotonou lateral and carry out work to interconnect its network with BGTS.
In Nigeria, the work will focus mainly on replacing valves at Itoki and the Lagos Beach Compressor Station (LBCS). Installation of the NGIC metering system is also planned at the Itoki site.
The maintenance will temporarily suspend gas flows from Nigeria through the regional network.
The interruption could put additional pressure on Togo’s power supply, as some of the country’s electricity generation relies on gas-fired power plants supplied through the WAGP.
Togo has experienced repeated disruptions to electricity supply this year, including outages linked to maintenance at thermal power plants.
Ghana will continue to receive gas supplied from the western section of the pipeline to Tema, WAPCo said, although the country’s overall gas supply will be reduced during the maintenance period.
WAPCo describes the WAGP as the first regional natural gas transmission network in sub-Saharan Africa. The pipeline links Nigeria with Benin, Togo and Ghana.
The company said the maintenance programme was intended to improve the safety, reliability and resilience of the infrastructure.
For Togo, maintaining a reliable gas supply is important for power generation as the country seeks to strengthen its electricity system.
Kenya: EPRA Signs Cooperation Agreement With Brazil’s CCEE
Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (EPRA) has signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) with Brazil’s Chamber of Electric Energy Commercialization (CCEE) to strengthen cooperation and knowledge exchange in the energy sector, with a focus on capacity development.
The agreement was signed in Sao Paulo by EPRA Acting Director General Joseph Oketch and CCEE Chief Executive Officer Ricardo Simabuku.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Kenya’s Deputy Head of Mission at the embassy in Brasilia, Ambassador Peris Kariuki, and EPRA Chairman Mwambu Mabonga.
The partnership comes as Kenya advances the implementation of its Open Access and Electricity Market Regulations. Brazil’s experience in competitive electricity markets could provide lessons for Kenya as it develops its electricity market framework.
Speaking at the ceremony, Oketch said international cooperation and knowledge exchange were critical to strengthening EPRA’s institutional capacity and supporting the development of Kenya’s energy sector.
“We remain committed to forging strategic international partnerships that expand our knowledge, strengthen our institutions and position Kenya to harness global best practices for the benefit of our people and economy,” EPRA said in a statement.
Nigeria: Bonga Southwest/Aparo Project Moves Closer To Final Investment Decision
Nigeria’s state oil company NNPC Ltd and its partners on Monday signed agreements expected to move the proposed Bonga Southwest/Aparo (BSWAp) deepwater project, estimated to attract up to $21 billion in investment, closer to a final investment decision.
The project, located in Oil Mining Lease 118, is expected to become one of Nigeria’s biggest new deepwater developments, with projected peak production of about 175,000 barrels of oil per day and 140 million standard cubic feet of gas per day.
NNPC Ltd and the OML 118 contractor parties – Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Ltd, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Ltd and Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd – executed an addendum to the OML 118 Production Sharing Contract and an addendum to the Dispute Settlement Agreement.
The agreements give effect to new fiscal and commercial terms approved by the federal government to support the development of BSWAp.
The development is significant for Nigeria, which has struggled in recent years to secure major new investments in its deepwater petroleum sector despite its substantial offshore oil and gas resources.
Unlike onshore and shallow-water operations, deepwater projects require large upfront capital commitments and long-term fiscal certainty, making a country’s tax and commercial framework a key consideration for international investors.
NNPC said in a statement issued by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer Andy Odeh that the agreements demonstrated the impact of recent government reforms aimed at restoring Nigeria’s attractiveness as a destination for deepwater investment.
“The execution gives effect to the fiscal and commercial terms approved by the Federal Government to support the development of BSWAp, and it reinforces Nigeria’s commitment to creating a competitive, stable and attractive environment for large-scale deepwater investment,” NNPC said.
The milestone follows President Bola Tinubu’s approval of the Deep Offshore Oil and Gas Projects Incentives (Tax Remission) Order, 2026, which is designed to improve the competitiveness of Nigeria’s deepwater fiscal regime and attract fresh investment.
NNPC said the execution of the addenda showed that the policy reforms were beginning to translate into concrete project development.
Bayo Ojulari, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, said the agreements demonstrated that the government’s reforms were creating a pathway for major investments that had previously remained uncertain.
“The execution of the BSWAp PSC and DSA Addenda demonstrates the effectiveness of President Tinubu’s reforms in translating policy into investment,” Ojulari said.
“NNPC Ltd will continue to work closely with the Federal Government, our partners and other stakeholders to ensure that this project delivers maximum value for the Federation and the Nigerian people,” he added.
The project partners also said they had completed the project’s pre-front-end engineering design phase, paving the way for the more detailed front-end engineering design stage.
The Bonga Southwest/Aparo project is expected to be one of Nigeria’s largest new deepwater developments and could provide a significant boost to the country’s oil and gas production and investment prospects.
U.S. Sanctions Singapore-Based Wellbred Capital And Oil-Trading Affiliates Over Iran Links
The United States imposed sanctions on Singapore-based Wellbred Capital and its trading firms in the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland, citing links to Iran, as it steps up measures targeting Tehran’s global financial networks.
The U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said on Monday that Wellbred had ties to Iranian oil shipping magnate Mohammad Hossein Shamkhani, according to Reuters.com.
“Shamkhani built Wellbred as a company outside the network’s Iranian business, though Shamkhani is ultimately responsible for Wellbred’s operations,” OFAC said in a statement outlining measures targeting nearly 60 companies, individuals and ships.
Also sanctioned were Dubai-based Wellbred Trading FZCO, Wellbred Trading SA in Geneva and its French biofuels refinery, La Nivernaise de Raffinage SAS.
Headquartered in Singapore, Wellbred trades in oil, naphtha, petrochemicals and liquefied petroleum gas and has offices in the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia and Nigeria, according to its website.
OFAC had previously designated individuals, entities and vessels forming part of a vast shipping empire controlled by Shamkhani in July 2025 and April 2026.
Shamkhani, the son of the late senior Iranian security official Ali Shamkhani, operates a massive fleet of tankers and containerships, OFAC has said.
The network transports oil and petroleum products from Iran and Russia, as well as other cargo, to buyers around the world, generating profits running into tens of billions of dollars, OFAC added.