Africa > Petroleum / Mining

Petroleum / Mining in Africa

  • Natural gas from Mozambique will supply the Japanese market

    MOZAMBIQUE, 2015/06/28 US group Anadarko Petroleum is in talks with newly formed Japanese consortium Jera to sign a arrangement for long term supply of natural gas extracted in Mozambique. Jera is a consortium set up last April by Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) and Chubu Electric, the biggest and third-biggest electricity suppliers in Japan, to try to lower the price paid for liquefied natural gas.
  • Brazilian group Oi may keep stake in Angola’s Unitel

    ANGOLA, 2015/05/20 Brazilian telecommunications group Oi is reassessing the put option on the 25 % stake it holds in Angola’s Unitel, said the group’s chief executive, Bayard Gontijo, speaking to the Reuters news agency. Gontijo said that the stake in the Angolan company remains on the inventory of African assets for sale, but added that the aboard was working on two possible scenarios, one of which is the sale and the other “the resolution of long-standing disputes … in a structure where the shareholder agreement is respected by the parties.”
  • Canadian company to mine phosphates in Guinea-Bissau

    GUINEA-BISSAU, 2015/05/14 The Canadian mining company GB Minerals aims to invest US$175 million to begin mining phosphates in Guinea-Bissau starting in 2017, its CEO announced on Tuesday in Bissau. “Our plan is to have the feasibility study submitted to the government this coming July, to wait for financing until the end of this year and to begin producing in 2017,” Luís Cabrito da Silva said. The CEO of GB Minerals indicated that the project as well involves construction of a new port at Ponta Chungue by the Geba River east of the capital Bissau.
  • German company ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products has been given exploitation rights for rare earths in Burundi

    GERMANY, 2015/05/14 German company ThyssenKrupp Metallurgical Products has been given exploitation rights for rare earths in Burundi - a country in turmoil over President Pierre Nkurunziza's bid for a third term. Private mining company Rainbow Rare Earth Limited explored an area of 39 square kilometers (15 square miles) in the Gakara area for about four years. Conditions seemed ideal: Hundreds of thousands of tons of ores like bastnaesite and monazite were simply waiting to be extracted. The company was granted a mining license by Burundi's government in March 2015. Operations are expected to start by the end of this time- Rainbow Rare Earth intends to extract 5,000 tons of ore annually.
  • Oil explorers hang onto Morocco energy potential

    CASABLANCA, 2015/04/05 Morocco has seen an uptick in both onshore and offshore drilling activity in 2014 as international oil firms, inclunding majors Chevron and BP, work to assess Morocco’s potential for oil and gas production – with some encouraging results. While explorers have from presently on to announce major, commercially-viable offshore discoveries, improved technologies are helping to identify resources in before overlooked areas along the Atlantic margin, a zone that has produced promising finds in Ghana and Brazil in recent years. Initial drilling in 2014 has turned up a handful of interesting prospects, and additional exploration plans in 2015-2016 are expected to clarify the resource picture.
  • Cyprus signed an energy deal with Egypt

    CYPRUS, 2015/04/01 Cyprus signed an energy transaction with Egypt on Monday that could see the island supplying its Mediterranean neighbour with gas. Cyprus is keen to exploit the Aphrodite field off its southeastern coast but the reserves proven so far are not considered sufficient to make it viable for the island to develop onshore export infrastructure of its own. Monday's transaction authorises the "Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company and the Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company to examine technical solutions for transporting natural gas, through a direct marine pipeline, from the Aphrodite field to Egypt."
  • Libya forces ‘withdraw’ from frontline bases near oil ports

    LIBYA, 2015/03/30 Forces loyal to a rival Libyan government controlling the capital Tripoli have withdrawn from frontline bases near the country's biggest oil ports, a spokesman said on Friday, raising hopes the ports may any minute at this time be reopened. A Tripoli official said the internationally recognised government and the rival government, which have fought since December over the two biggest oil ports in eastern Libya, had reached an agreement to withdraw. He did not say whether troops had been moved from presently on. The move, if confirmed, may pave the way to restart the Es Sider and Ras Lanuf ports which shut down in December due to fighting. Libya is divided with factions allied to two governments -- the internationally recognised one in the east and the rival government in Tripoli - vying for control of territory and oil facilities.
  • Is Africa’s oil and gas sector under threat?

    WORLD, 2015/01/17   Africa Oil Week, held in Cape Town, South Africa last month, is widely considered the African industry’s premier conference. This year, a number of uncertainties overshadowed proceedings
  • Zambia: London Copper Edges Lower

    UNITED KINGDOM, 2015/01/06 London copper edged lower on Tuesday, falling for a fifth consecutive session to trade around its lowest in four and a half years on worries about slowing request in top consumer China. Reuters said the three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange (LME) fell 0.2 %, or US$9.75 a tonne, to US$6,280.25, next hitting US$6,230 a tonne on Monday, the lowest since June 2010. The statement said the majority-traded copper arrangement on the Shanghai Futures Exchange finished 0.2 % higher at 45,290 Yuan a tonne. "We think the price has a little bit additional room to fall, I will not be surprised to see prices go down to $6,000 a tonne," said one metals trader in Shanghai.
  • Stakeholders Discuss Ethiopia's Extractive Industry

    ETHIOPIA, 2015/01/05 Ethiopia's Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EEITI) national secretariat brought together national stakeholders for a conference on 24-25 December 2014, on the contribution of the mining sector to Ethiopia's economy inclunding familiarizing them on the EITI process. The national secretariat is hosted by the Ministry of Mines and Ethiopia has as well set up an EEITI multi-stakeholder national steering committee, comprising the government, private sector, and CSOs. The conference raised awareness part federal and regional relevant personnel of the key implementing partners with regards to federal and regional mining, environmental protection, audit, finance and economic development and Inland Revenue bureau on EITI process. The conference as well examined licensing and government of minerals and petroleum; revenue management; environmental protection; supporting and coordinating artisanal mining; natural resource management and CSO concerns; inclunding price chains and marketing.