South Sudan’s Petroleum Minister, Ezekiel Lul Gatkuoth (photo), has announced plans to increase oil production from 130,000 to 350,000 barrels a day, in spite of the ongoing armed conflict in the country. According to him, technical measures had been put in place to reopen oil fields in the northern Unity region, making it possible to boost national production to 350,000 barrels a day by early...

Aminex Plc has announced that it has received formal approval from the Tanzanian Minister of Energy and Minerals to extend the work period of the Nyuni Area PSA for a period of four years. The current work period will now be extended until at least 27th October 2019. Nyuni covers more than 400,000 acres and is potential host to multi-trillion cubic feet of gas. According to the company, it has...

UK oil giant, BP on Monday announced that it is farming in into Kosmos Energy’s exploration blocks, offshore Mauritania and Senegal. According to the company, it would purchase a 62% working interest, including operatorship, of Kosmos’ offshore Blocks C-6, C-8, C-12 and C-13 in Mauritania as well as a 32.49% effective working interest in Kosmos’ Saint-Louis Profond and Cayar Profond blocks...

Algeria’s Sonatrach, has signed contracts with Tecnicas Reunidas and Amec Foster Wheeler to carry out studies for two new refinery processing plants. According to Sonatrach's CEO, Amin Mazouzi (photo), the first plant, in Skikda, would process 4.6 million tonnes of fuel oil and 4 million tonnes of naphtha for an annual output of 3.2 million tonnes of diesel and 3.5 million tonnes of gasoline....

A local group of Libya's petroleum guard has prohibited production from restarting at the El Feel oil field. This is coming two days after protesters ended a two-year blockade on two of the country’s key oil pipeline. According to an employee of Mellitah Oil and Gas which exports oil from the field, the local group from Tebu who watches over the field is preventing the field from reopening,...

Ghana’s oil output is to reach 190,000 barrels per day by the end of 2016, Ecobank Research has revealed. According to the report, this output when achieved would make Ghana the 6th leading producer of oil in middle Africa. It added that the success of the increased production will be subject to the replacement of the turret bearing on the FPSO Kwame Nkrumah which will return production...

Oil workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) during a protest shut down business operations at the ExxonMobil office in Lagos over the dismissal of 145 workers. The workers, who are also members of staff of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil, said they had shut down activities at the company’s Qua Iboe...

Toward the drive to achieve self-sufficiency by 2020, Egyptian oil companies have increased gas production from their respective assets. Companies such as Pharaonic Petroleum Company and North of Sinai Petroleum Company (NOSPCO) have succeeded in producing 110 Mmcf/d and 70 Mmcf/d of natural gas respectively. Pharaonic has completed the Phase 3 of its development operations for the Ras El Bar...

Borno State, a state in north-eastern Nigeria, has joined the league of oil-producing states in the country, with the discovery of crude oil after many months of exploration. This was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, Jamila Shua’ra, during the agreement signing ceremony for joint venture, JV, cash call withdrawal and presentation of the petroleum...

Rand Merchant Investment Holdings, branch of Rand Merchant Bank Holdings, has considerably gained in importance in UK’s insurance sector. It has acquired 30% of Hastings, a British firm that sells motor insurance via price comparison websites. The deal is valued at about $634.61 million. RMI Holdings offered 255 pence maximum, for each Hastings share, representing a 15% premium on its...