Japanese investment bank Nomura said in a statement published on March 22, it will open a branch in Cape Town, South Africa, as it aims to take advantage of growth opportunities in sub Saharan Africa. “The new branch which is to open on April 4 will focus on providing a relevant and tailored range of investment banking and risk solution services to further support its current and new clients in...

Three oil ports in Libya that have been shut down for over a year are to be reopened, as the country now has a unity government in Tripoli, a spokesman Petroleum Facilities Guard said . “We are planning to reopen the ports. It’s under the control of the unity government now,” Ali al-Hassi, a spokesman for the Petroleum Facilities Guard, said. The oil ports in Es Sider, Ras Lanuf and...

Following Total Uganda’s decision to route the pipeline through Tanzania, the African Development Bank (AfDB) on Friday revealed that it is ready to be the lead arranger for the financing of Kenya's planned oil pipeline to transport crude from fields in the far north county of Turkana. Kenya and Uganda have been negotiating which route to select for an oil export pipeline that Kenya wants to...

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is going to present two proposals at the forthcoming Doha meeting which will be held on April 17 2016 to discuss oil output cuts and freezes, OPEC sources revealed. The first proposal involved the replacement of all steel oil barrels with plastic barrels, mainly made from crude oil as there has been approximately 1 trillion steel oil...

In spite of talks regarding routing an oil pipeline through Kenya, Total Uganda has finally chosen to direct the pipeline via Tanzania. “As a company, our position remains that we are going through Tanga. I understand there are issues being discussed but our position remains the same,” Adewale Fayemi Total E & P Uganda General Manager said. Kenya in March, made every effort to convince...

Maersk Oil has revealed plans to reduce its establishments in Angola and the US due to low crude prices in the global market and the challenging market conditions for deepwater developments. This will bring about the shutdown of the company’s Houston office and a decrease in the team in Luanda. The decision is coming after the extensive and unending work to cut capex and improve returns of...

In Cote d’Ivoire, telecom regulatory authority ARTCI withdrew the operating licences of GreenN Network, Comum, Café Mobile and Warid Telecom. A decision which has been pending since last year. The regulator sanctioned the operators for failing to pay significant royalties, providing services of poor quality according to consumers, having a low network coverage and a low level of investment as...

The Government of Zambia is issuing international tender for oil exploration in 40 blocks in 10 provinces in the country, the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development revealed. According to the Minister of Mines and Minerals Development, Christopher Yaluma (photo), bids were issued after samples collected in 2007 confirmed traces of oil. He said initial geological surveys carried out in the...

Nigeria has chosen Mohammed Barkindo (photo), the former Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), as the next secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), according to a government official. Barkindo had worked at NNPC up until 2010 and had served as the acting secretary-general of OPEC in 2006. “We are putting Barkindo...

The Ghanaian Minister for Petroleum, Emmanuel Armah-Kofi Buah (photo), on Thursday revealed that the country will remain dependent on Nigeria to support the demand shortfall in its gas needs even though Eni’s TEN projects have been completed. The Minister said the two projects even if completed will add 60Mmscf of gas to the 120Mmscf currently being delivered by the Atuabo Gas Processing Plant,...