Oando Plc has revealed that attacks on pipelines in the Niger Delta over the past year have resulted in a revenue shortfall of about $750 million across all its joint venture operations. The company has a joint venture (JV) with Energia on the Ebendo field which feed through to Forcados export terminal, with its biggest JV the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) near the Brass terminal which...

SDX Energy and PICO Petroleum have been granted preliminary approval to extend the drilling period in South Ramadan Concession located in the Gulf of Suez by the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC). The extension also includes the operators spending $23m investments in the project. According to SDX Energy’s Country Director, Ahmed Moaaz, the company, in conjunction with its...

In Mozambique, Eni has announced that a final investment decision is expected from partners on the deep-water Coral South floating liquefied natural gas project by December and production will commence five years later. “The facility will have 3.3 million tonnes of LNG production comprising gas treatment, liquefaction, storage and off-loading facilities,” Luca Bertelli (photo), chief...

In South Sudan, the Ministry of Petroleum has ordered oil companies operating in the oil sector in the country, to recall all their former employees who had abandoned their jobs as a result of the outbreak of civil war on 15 December 2013. According to the Minister of Petroleum, Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth (photo), the directive is coming in line with the presidential order which necessitated the...

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UNFAO) said Africa’s rice production should achieve a new record in 2016, soaring 4% to 29.7 million metric tons. Among countries that will pull the continent’s output up is Egypt where production restarted. There is also West Africa which should produce half of the forecast output, about 14.8 million metric tons (+4%). Yield increase in...

Business mogul Femi Otedola just exited the Nigerian club of billionaires pushed out by oil prices slump. Forbes’ recently updated billionaire list reveals that Otedola’s wealth shrank by $1.25 billion, from $1.8 billion in March 2016 to 550 million as the stocks of his company, Forte Oil, tumbled sharply. At the close of trading last October 14, Forte Oil’s shares plunged to...

The Moroccan government, in order to make property transactions safer as they are impaired by land speculation, has decided to strengthen mechanisms related to land transfer. As stated in the amended law for real rights transferred to the Parliament last October 6, all proxies (mandates) for property transfers exclusively, must from now on be established in an authenticated deed. In the case...

In Morocco, Bab Ighli, the village which will host from November 7 to 18, 2016, the COP22 is 98% complete. The 300,000 m² site which will receive 20,000 delegates from 196 countries has been delivered in most part. It comprises 55 tents mounted in less than three months and divided in two zones. The Blue Zone administrated by the United Nations and which has been designed in respect with the...

Banking group Attijariwafa Bank and its majority stakeholder, Moroccan royal holding Société Nationale d’Investissement (SNI), now hold equal shares in Wafa Assurance. A statement published by Attijariwafa states that SNI acquired a 50% interest in OGM, a holding that holds a 79.29% on Wafa Assurance. The transaction will provide the bank, the necessary capital to grow worldwide and in...

Total has announced that it expects the offshore Moho Nord field to add a further 100,000 barrels a day when it starts first production by early 2017. According to Total’s Africa president for exploration and production, Guy Maurice (photo), the company expected to make a final investment decision on its onshore Ugandan field by the end of 2017. “Lower operational expenditure on one side...