Senegal announces a 25-year plan for economic and social development
Senegal’s government released a 25-year plan of development on Monday. It said that the plan would lay the groundwork for economic sovereignty by focusing on competitiveness, resource management sustainability and good governance. The agenda was launched in March, seven months after the West African president Bassirou Diomaye Faye won a landslide victory at elections on the promise of improving livelihoods. He said: "Our... economic model has been neutralised because it relies on exploitation of raw materials…
Arbitration awards Kosmos Energy Senegal LNG project to BP, as the sole purchaser
Kosmos Energy announced on Tuesday that a Paris arbitrator ruled in favor of BP, preventing Kosmos to sell liquefied gas from the Greater Tortue project off Senegal and Mauritania. LNG is a key part of BP's energy transition strategy. Energy major BP has established a significant LNG pipeline across the globe, including Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria, Angola Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea are already shipping significant volumes. The International Chamber of Commerce was asked to arbitrate a dispute between Kosmos Energy (a U.S.
Audit shows Senegal debt and deficit is higher than reported
The Senegal's Economy Minister said that the IMF is currently in discussions with Senegal to discuss corrective measures. An audit showed that the debt and deficit of the country were far greater than what the previous administration reported. Abdourahmane Sarr stated that the audit of Senegal’s finances, ordered by the newly elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye showed a deficit of over 10% at the end 2023 compared to the 5% reported by the previous government.
Senegal president announces election of parliament on November 17
Senegal's President Bassirou Diomaye Faye dissolved Thursday the national assembly led by the opposition, paving the way for legislative elections to be held early on November 17. Faye, the new leader of the country, stated in an evening speech that it was difficult to work with the Assembly after the members refused to begin discussions on the Budget Law and rejected attempts to dissolve wasteful institutions. Faye announced the voting date in his short speech.
Senegal establishes commission to review oil contracts
On Monday, Senegal's Prime Minister Ousmane sonko announced that the country had set up a panel of experts in legal, tax and energy sectors to review oil and gas contracts, and to work on rebalancing them to serve national interests. After assuming office, President Bassirou Diomaye Faye - who had defeated the candidate of the ruling coalition in a landslide win in March - ordered an audit of oil, gas, and mining sectors and promised to renegotiate contract terms with foreign operators if necessary.
Woodside Says It's on the Lookout for Acquisitions
Australia's Woodside Petroleum is looking for acquisitions, ideally close to its existing assets or offering it control over assets that are already producing or close to producing, its boss said on Thursday."We're clearly scanning the landscape very closely looking for opportunities," Chief Executive Peter Coleman told analysts on a conference call.He said the company does not want to acquire assets that would require heavy capital spending as it already has undeveloped world-class assets.Coleman said the company has another week and a half to deci
Woodside Watching Supermajors' Woes for Opportunities
Woodside Petroleum is keeping a close eye out for assets that might come up for grabs from the oil supermajors amid the oil market rout, seeing itself in a position to bid, Chief Executive Peter Coleman said on Friday.The head of Australia's top independent gas producer said, however, deals were unlikely until the third or fourth quarter of this year."We are watching closely the super majors," Coleman told reporters on a conference call the…
New Offshore Acreage Licensing to Drop 60% in 2020, Rystad says
Newly licensed offshore oil and gas exploration acreage is likely to fall by about 60% and onshore acreage by 30% compared with 2019 levels, Rystad Energy has said, as the Norwegian energy market analytics company expects more than half of the world’s planned licensing rounds to be canceled this year due to the combined effect of the COVID-19 pandemic and the low oil prices."This year was slated to be another remarkable year for exploration with about 45 countries launching at least 52 lease rounds, about 60% of them in offshore areas.
BP Issues Force Majeure Notice for Golar FLNG Unit
Golar LNG Ltd said on Tuesday that it received a force majeure notice from a BP Plc unit seeking to delay taking delivery of a floating liquefied natural gas facility by a year.The notice is the latest force majeure claim issued in the LNG sector that is struggling with a seasonal plunge in demand as well as the spread of the coronavirus outbreak, which has further hammered the consumption of the super-chilled fuel globally.BP is expecting a…
Deepwater Acreage to Attract Investments
Deepwater acreage will continue to attract significant company interest through 2020, said a report.According to GlobalData, a significant portion of the acreage available in Q1 2020 is located in either deep or ultra-deep water, up from the previous quarter.In Q1 2020, approximately 60% of the acreage available in licensing rounds either open or scheduled to close in the quarter is located in deep or ultra-deep water, revealed the report: ‘Q1 2020 Global Bid Round Outlook – Increase in Deepwater Acreage Offered in Q1 2020’.Toya Latham…
Woodside Sees Reserve Base Tripling
Australia's Woodside Petroleum on Tuesday laid out plans to triple its gas and oil reserve base as it pursues projects worth over $36 billion in Australia, Senegal and Myanmar.Success in those projects would result in its reserve base reaching 3.7 billion barrels over the next seven years and help Woodside expand production by 6% a year over the next decade, it said."We believe we now have a compelling growth story," Woodside Chief Executive…
Orca-1 is Largest Gas Discovery of the Year
On 28 October 2019 oil giant BP announced a major gas discovery, Orca-1, exploration well in the BirAllah area off the coast of Mauritania.“The deepest and largest discovery so far this year, Rystad Energy estimates Orca-1 holds around 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of recoverable resources,” says Palzor Shenga, a senior analyst on Rystad Energy’s upstream team.Offshore continues to dominate exploration in 2019, both in terms of the number of discoveries and the volume of resources unearthed.
Woodside Targets Scarborough FID in Early 2020
Woodside Petroleum Ltd has pushed out the final approval date for its mammoth Browse gas project but slightly brought forward plans to sign off on its smaller Scarborough project as it races to fill an anticipated global supply gap.Woodside, Australia's top independent gas producer, said on Thursday it is now targeting a final investment decision on the $20.5 billion Browse project in the first half of 2021 as it continues to wrangle with its partners.
African LNG to Attract $103Bln in 2019
With greenfield investments in Nigeria, Egypt, Mozambique and elsewhere reaching nearly $103 billion this year, it is clear that liquefaction is viewed as the most profitable strategy for realizing Africa’s gas potential, said Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF).Africa is an exciting frontier in the global natural gas sector. The continent holds 7.1 percent of proven global gas reserves and is expected to contribute nearly 10 percent of global…
Woodside H1 Profit Slumps
Woodside Petroleum flagged a challenging near-term outlook on Thursday as it grapples to win over its partners to back $34 billion worth of new oil and gas projects amid a souring global environment.Australia's biggest independent oil and gas producer reported a worse than expected 23% drop in first-half profit, hurt by extended maintenance at its Pluto LNG plant, which took longer than planned.Its shares fell as much as 7% to a seven-month low…
Total Extends Pacific Santa Ana Gig
Offshore drilling contractor Pacific Drilling has been awarded a one-well extension for its drillship working for French oil major Total in Offshore Mauritania.Pacific Santa Ana is expected to run from this month to September, said offshore ultra-deepwater drilling company."We added backlog for our fleet as an option was exercised for Pacific Santa Ana. The increase in revenue in second-quarter 2019 resulted primarily from the Pacific Santa Ana commencing operations with Total in Senegal…
Senegal President's Brother Resigns After Energy Fraud Claims
The brother of Senegal's President Macky Sall has resigned from his government post after allegations of fraud relating to natural gas contracts, he said on Monday.An investigation by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) this month alleged that a company run by Aliou Sall received a secret payment of $250,000 in 2014 from Frank Timis, a businessman whose company, Timis Corporation, that year secured licences to two major offshore gas blocks.The affair has dominated the airwaves in Senegal…
BP Dishes Greater Tortue Ahmeyim Contracts
Oil major BP has awarded subsea umbilicals, risers and flowlines (SURF) and subsea production system (SPS) equipment contracts to services providers McDermott International and Baker Hughes, a GE company (BHGE), for the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim natural gas project, located offshore Mauritania and Senegal.The Tortue/Ahmeyim gas field is located offshore on the border between Mauritania and Senegal, and contains an estimated resources of 15 trillion…
Keppel, Golar to Build FLNG Facility
Keppel Corporation will partner liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping company Golar LNG to develop a floating LNG facility (FLNG) facility to be located on the Mauritania and Senegal maritime border.Keppel will partner Golar by subscribing for 30 per cent in Gimi MS Corporation, through Keppel's indirect wholly owned subsidiary First FLNG Holdings (FFH). The remaining 70 per cent in Gimi MS Corporation will be subscribed by Golar.Gimi MS will build and operate the facility…
Golar to Supply FLNG for BP
Golar LNG Limited announced Tuesday that its newly incorporated subsidiary Gimi MS Corporation has entered into a 20-year Lease and Operate Agreement (LOA) with BP for the charter of a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) unit, Gimi, to service the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project offshore Mauritania and Senegal.The FLNG unit Gimi will liquefy gas as part of the first phase of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project and be located at an innovative nearshore hub located on the Mauritania and Senegal maritime border.
