Uganda through the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development has witnessed a huge step in the commercialization of the oil sector, as seven companies bids for blocks which were put up for licencing in Albertine Graben. Companies that presented their bids includes, Armour Energy Limited, WalterSmith Petroman Oil Limited, Oranto Petroleum International Ltd, Niger Delta Petroleum Resources Ltd,...

Turner & Townsend has been granted a contract by Black Rhino Mining Oil and Gas Services (BRM) for the provision of project management and project control services for the 550 km East Africa fuel pipeline. The pipeline project which costs $1.55-billion was an infrastructure project being carried out by the governments of Ethiopia and Djibouti and is to convey diesel, petrol and jet...

SDX Energy has announced that drilling has commenced on its Manatee-1 exploration well on Bakassi West in Cameroon. According to the company the possible reserves from the prospect might be comparable to the Abana field, located 7km to the southwest of Manatee-1. The well, which is situated in shallow water in the Niger Delta Basin, offshore Cameroon, is to be spud with the Paragon M825 jack-up...

Uganda and Tanzania are considering constructing a pipeline from Uganda’s oil fields to the Tanzanian coast. Uganda, which has not commenced oil production brought up the option of a Tanzanian pipeline route in 2015. A statements released after a meeting between the two heads of state on Tuesday, did not disclose the fate of the Kenyan oil export pipeline plan. Total, had voiced security...

Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) has announced that it has extended the Joint Survey Agreement with PetroSeychelles to explore hydrocarbon potentials in offshore Seychelles. Geological and geophysical surveys which includes seismic surveys was carried out by JOGMEC and PetroSeychelles from August 30, 2013 under an exploration licence awarded by the Government of...

In Namibia, the Ministry of Mines and Energy has revealed that petrol and diesel pump prices for March will be reduced on March 2, 2016. According to Mines and Energy minister, Obeth Kandjoze (photo), the retail price 95 Octane Unleaded Petrol, will reduce by 50 cents per litre while the wholesale price of all grades of diesel is to reduce by 30 cents per litre. He said global oil glut is still...

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, after meeting with Egypt’s president Abdel Fattah al-Sissi in Tokyo on February 29, announced Japanese firms would invest 2 trillion yen ($17.7 billion) in various sectors in Egypt. Abe, without providing much detail, said Egypt’s power industry was one of the targeted sectors. However, a high official from the Japanese ministry of Foreign Affairs...

Startimes Media Côte d’Ivoire SA, Akwaba Tele SA and Tv-Com Côte d’Ivoire SA have joined the list of satellite-TV operators in Cote d’Ivoire. The approval of these channels is not part of the plan for the establishment of free aerial TV, for which a call to offers will be later launched, Ivorian High Authority for Audiovisual Communication (HACA) said in a statement cited by Fraternite...

In a release published on February 24, 2016, mobile operator Lumitel, Viettel’s Burundian subsidiary, announced the launching of its 4G network in six of the country’s provinces. These are Bujumbura, Gitega, Ngozi, Rumonge Makamba and Muyinga, telegeography.com reports. With this new network, Lumitel introduces customers to a new range of mobile internet services with speeds of up to...

American rating agency Standard & Poor’s indicated in a recent report that sovereign commercial loans to SSA (sub Saharan Africa) nations would decrease by 20% in 2016, down to $37 billion. This based on data on 18 of the region’s countries which the agency rates. The report adds that 64% of these loans, a little more than $23.7 billion, will be in local currencies while the...