Qatar Petroleum on Monday announced that it has entered into an agreement to procure 30% of Chevron’s interest in drilling areas, offshore Morocco. Situated 100 to 200 km West and Northwest of Agadir, the drilling areas include Cap Rhir Deep, Cap Cantin Deep and Cap Walidia Deep. Under the agreement, Chevron now hold a 45% interest in the offshore areas, while Morocco will maintain a 25%...

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Total has commenced a seismic survey on Block III, Albertine Graben exploration license, which is situated on the country’s border with Uganda. The company secured the licence for the block in 2012 but not able to begin an exploration program due to insecurity in the area. Initial exploration on adjacent blocks had indicated that the area could hold...

Banque publique d’investissement (BpiFrance), a French funding and development institution, and Caisse tunisienne des dépôts et consignations (CDC) launched on February 5th, a French-Tunisian private equity fund named “Co-Localisation” that aims to support SMEs in both countries. This fund was allocated €20 million, provided through the equal participation of BpiFrance and CDC....

Sound Energy on Monday announced that it has entered into a binding agreement with Oil & Gas Investment Fund (OGIF). Under the agreement, OGIF will allow Sound Energy secure a 55% interest and operatorship in the Meridja permit, onshore Morocco. The interest is however subject to regulatory and other necessary approval. OGIF presently holds a 75% interest in a Reconnaissance permit over the...

Workers at company Petroci have increased their strike for another 72 hours as they look to bring in workers from other companies in the sector to join the protest. “Next week we will intensify the strike and see if other employees from other companies in the sector join the Petroci employees in this strike,” Geremie N'Guessan Wondje, secretary general of the SYNTEPCI union said. Petroci...

Low crude oil prices will continue longer than expected Morgan Stanley, American multinational financial services corporation revealed. The bank on Thursday reduced its 2016 Brent price prediction to $30 per barrel (a 40 % reduction from its initial prediction) stating that a disparity between supply and demand is to persist for another two years. In January, the World Bank cut its...

Federal Government on Friday swore not to reduce the number of staffs of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), following threats by Labour Unions to evade Imo state if sacked workers were not reinstated. The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources Ibe Kachikwu (photo), revealed this to leaders of the labour union at joint press conference organized by the Nigerian Union of...

In Zambia, Tata Power and Zesco (Zambian power utility) just commissioned the hydropower project of Itezhi Tezhi. “We are delighted to announce the commissioning of both units of the Itezhi Tezhi hydro power project. It is a major milestone for us as it takes us a step forward to make our international footprints stronger, said Anil Sardana,” CEO MD, Tata Power. The Indian firm has a 50%...

During a roundtable organized by Facebook with SMEs from Ghana and Nigeria, the social network explained how to reach its target with least possible investment. According to Facebook, more than 50 million small and medium enterprises worldwide actively use Facebook Pages, on mobile mostly. Among these, 2.5 million invest few dollars to boost visibility and efficiency. Nunu Ntshingila, Head of...

« Today you laid the first stone, better yet, together we planted the first seeds. And I foresee the impact of KINFOR fivefold at its second and third edition » said the Honourable Marie-Ange Lukiana Mufwankolo, National MP for the City of Kinshasa during his opening speech at KINFOR16. A truly international forum! With more than 500 entrepreneurs from three continents (America,...