Energy

VENTURES AFRICA – The South African government has signalled intent to pursue construction of a new nuclear power plants (NPPs) and increase the amount of nuclear-generated electricity in the country to 9.6 GW by 2030, a cabinet Minister said on Wednesday. Public Enterprise Minister, Malusi Gigaba said the South Africa government has to make a [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – The Nigerian Government has approved $3.7 billion to increase power transmission to 20,000 megawatts (MW) according to reports. According to a Nigerian newspaper, Daily Times, the Vice President Namadi Sambo disclosed the development at a meeting with Nigeria Canadian Association (NCA) in the greater Toronto area (GTA) of Canada. Nigeria generates less [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Mines, Industry & Energy, H.E. Gabriel M Obiang Lima, has confirmed that he will make vital announcements on the next oil blocks to be put up for sale at the annual EG Gas Conference in Malabo, in June. Recently, the oil rich country formally ratified eight offshore and [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Europe’s largest oil company Royal Dutch Shell Plc on Thursday announced major investments in a number of projects including a deep-water project in Nigeria. According to a BBC report, the company also announced that it recorded a $7.95 billion profit in the three months ended March 31, up 3.6 per cent from [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Ghana’s state-owned oil company, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) has denied allegations of ‘bribe taking’ from South Africa’s PetroSA, as reports from investigations in the latter country suggest. According to the reports, PetroSA, which is currently under investigations for the purchase of Sabre Oil’s stake in Ghana’s Jubilee Oil field, paid about $20 [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Analysts in Ghana are of the view that the Jubilee Oil field partners could be allowed minimum flaring opportunity following indications that the national Gas project could delay. This development is attributed to recent financial challenges in paying the main contractor, SINOPEC, on the site. The Chinese company is already threatening to [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Mozambique-based state-owned petroleum products distributor, Petromoc, on Tuesday indicated interest in listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). Petromoc, which is the second largest company in Mozambique said this was part of its rapid growth plan aimed at uplifting the firms’ profile. The state-owned company owns the largest retail network in Mozambique [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Chinese firm, Sinopec International Petroleum Service Corporation is threatening to abandon work on Ghana’s Gas infrastructure. The Gas infrastructure, which is being constructed in the Western Region of Ghana, is supposed to be funded from a $3 billion loan from the China Development Bank (CDB), but the start of work was pre-funded by [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Nigerian electricity consumers are poised to benefit from the World Bank’s provision of the first $145 million Partial Risk Guarantee (PRG) to Nigeria’s gas sector, it emerged late Tuesday. The PRG deal was signed by the World Bank and the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), Egbin Power, Chevron Nigeria and Deutsche [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Wednesday said it will launch the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Africa Hub initiative at the end of next month in Marrakesh, Morocco. Donald Kaberuka, the president of the AfDB, made this announcement during the first advisory board meeting of the institution this week. The SE4ALL [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – South Sudan’s first oil cargo is set to reach a Sudan export handling facility this coming week, according to Reuters. Landlocked South Sudan closed its all-inclusive production of 350,000 barrels a day in January last year. This was after the newly-found country’s talks with neighbour Sudan over oil fees were botched, hurling [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – As oil and gas industry analysts in Ghana raise concerns about the possible danger the further delay of Ghana’s Gas infrastructure poses to the Jubilee oil field, Tullow Oil insists, the oil wells holding the gas are safe. Some oil and gas analysts in Ghana intimated to Ventures Africa that the wells [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Africa’s largest solar photovoltaic (PV) plant was launched on Thursday in Nouakchott, the capital of Islamic Republic of Mauritania. Built by Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy specialist Masdar, the $32 million 15 megawatts (MW) scheme, which is the first utility-scale solar power installation in the country, will provide up to 10 percent of [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – State-owned PetroSA on Thursday disclosed it is considering building a new oil refinery on the eastern seaboard city of South Africa’s Port Elizabeth. Thabo Mabaso, the spokesman for the oil company, said this was aimed at attending to the country’s rising energy demands. “We were not making the announcement today. What happened [...]

VENTURES AFRICA – Billionaire business tycoon and Africa richest man, Aliko Dangote has revealed plans to build an $8 billion refinery with a capacity of around 400,000 barrels a day by late 2016; almost double Nigeria’s current refining capacity. Nigeria is Africa’s largest oil producing country with production standing at about 445,000 barrels per day [...]