Total, a leader in the retail fuel market on the African continent, already owns 70 fuel stations in Egypt, representing a 4 percent market share. It will acquire 85 more from Shell to become Egypt’s fourth-largest gasoline retailer, doubling its market share, the company said.

“Through this acquisition, we reaffirm our ambition to pursue our development in Africa and in the Middle East in the retail business,” a spokesman from Total said on Wednesday.

Although the price of the transaction were not disclosed, Total Spokesman said the French company is strengthening its position as the largest gasoline retailer in Africa.

Retailers are now focusing on emerging markets as gasoline retail activities have decreased in Western Europe, due to lower consumption fueled by the prolonged economic crisis.

Speaking on the deal, Shell in a statement said “The sale is consistent with Shell’s strategy to concentrate its downstream footprint on a smaller number of assets and markets;” citing recent sale of some refineries in the U.K. and Germany and its refining and marketing businesses in Finland and Sweden as examples of this.

The deal is not expected to be completed for several months, Shell said

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The African independent upstream oil and gas firm did not say when its Botswana subsidiary, Transfer Holdings, will start oil exploration in the country.

But the firm confirmed that Botswana Department of Mines broke the news to Transfer, adding the licences were awarded late last month.

Onkokame Mokaila, the Botswana Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources had approved the licenses and said they were ready for collection by Transfer.

SacOil also won onshore petroleum prospecting license in Malawi and said it wanted to complete work there by the second quarter of next year.

The company has started work already in Malawi and is currently in the first planning stages for the environmental- and social-impact assessment.

The wants to build a “balanced upstream” oil and gas collection by getting early stage prospects in Africa.

In 2010, the firm was also awarded the 3 177 km2 Block 3 prospecting licence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

SacOil is a Pan African oil and gas firm with exploration assets in the African continent.

It is listed on the JSE’s Mining – Integrated Oil & Gas Index. SacOil was initially known as SA Mineral Resources Corporation.

SacOil’s assets are in all phases of the upstream cycle – exploration, appraisal and near production and are currently in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nigeria, it said in a statement.

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The announcement by the Chief Executive Officer Brian F. Maxted in an interview with journalists would now put the minds of investors at rest after uncertainties over Kosmos’ intensions to list on the Ghana bourse.

Kosmos which was hoping to follow in the footsteps of the lead operator on the Ghanaian field, Tullow Oil, initiated the listing process last year but the move did not materialize.

Explaining to journalists in Accra about Kosmos’ decision, CEO Brian Maxted said: “We are prepared to do it at the right time and then we will have to wait and see when the conditions are possibly right for us to do that.”

“We have no plans at the present times. There is no hindrance of the progress of the process at all. It is just about figuring out where the company is at, where Ghana is at, and when the commercial and economic conditions are right to do such a thing.”

“We will continue to review the situation. I don’t want to make any commitments. I don’t want to promise anything. It will happen when it happens,” he added.

Kosmos Energy has an 18% stake in the field with lead operator Tullow Oil controlling 49.95%. The other partners include Anadarko, PatroSA and the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC).

The post Kosmos Energy Postpones Ghana Stock Exchange Listing Indefinitely appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

Public Enterprise Minister, Malusi Gigaba said the South Africa government has to make a decision this year.

The Minister said the nuclear propramme – Eskom would be the government’s operator- would drive up the industrialization in South Africa, Africa’s largest economy, if foreign investors chipped in. Gigaba also highlighted that the country cannot achieve its social and economic development objectives without energy.

He said he hoped the National Nuclear Energy Executive Co-ordinating Commission would present its view on the options for nuclear energy to the Cabinet in the near future. Eskom would be the operator of the government’s nuclear programme.

It might be necessary to bring the construction of a third new coal-fired power station forward because it would take time to raise funds and build the nuclear power stations, a process that would be staggered into three phases of 3,200MW each. This was under discussion with the Department of Energy.

The minister furthered stating that the construction of new NPPs will benefit South African industry. Local companies have displayed their competence with the construction of new coal power stations, he cited. “It is essential that South African industry position itself to export nuclear power plant components,” which will require local companies to form international strategic partnerships. Construction of such components demands very high standards, which is a “challenge that must be overcome”.

Those opposed to the new nuclear project cite the huge amount of money involved in the construction of the plants, but Gigaba dismissed the notion explaining that the cost of the construct had to be weighed against the gains made in reducing carbon emissions and the long-term stability of electricity supply.

The opponents of the nuclear energy also cited the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan two year ago. However, the South Africa government has proceeded carefully. It had the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) investigate the safety of national electricity utility Eskom’s Koeberg NPP and Necsa’s Safari-1 research reactor. (Koeberg is near Cape Town and Safari-1 is at Pelindaba, west of Pretoria.) The outcome of both safety reviews was positive, with only minor changes required.

He asked: “Which costs are we willing to bear? That is the decision we have to take.”

He also believes that the Democratic Republic of Congo, Inga hydroelectric project would determine the future of the nuclear energy.

Last month, South Africa Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe said: “It has become crystal-clear that coal is not a long-term solution of our needs.

“Because of coal, our country is listed among the world’s largest emitters of carbon dioxide.”

Moreover, the country’s coal power stations were concentrated in the north-east region and required long transmission lines to reach most of the rest of the country. This was not wise.

“It is clear that in the medium term coal will have a role to play in mitigating our energy challenges,” he admitted.

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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 than 5,000 MW of power annually. Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, has said the country needs to generate about 200,000 MW of electricity to sufficiently provide energy.

At the interactive session, the Vice President reiterated government efforts in different sectors of the economy including transportation, aviation, ICT, agriculture, healthcare services, education and good governance.

Sambo commended the contribution of Nigerians in the diaspora to national development, and encouraged them to return. He disclosed that it was in recognition of their contributions that a 1 billion naira diaspora bond was set up and requested them to key in to such a laudable initiative.

Highlights of the event were questions and answer sessions which focused on security, voting rights, women’s rights, corruption and infrastructural development .

Present at the occasion were the Governors of Akwa Ibom and Kaduna States and the ministers of education , internal affairs, state work and others.

The post Nigeria Approves $3.7 Billion To Boost Power Transmission appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

Recently, the oil rich country formally ratified eight offshore and onshore production sharing contracts, all of which include GEPetrol as a partner.

Although some of the companies that secured PSCs are well known industry players, awardees also include smaller, less known companies from West Africa, China and Brazil suggesting that Equatorial Guinea is ready to welcome new investors to the country.

New blocks will be offered to the international petroleum industry later in the year with more details confirmed to be announced at the upcoming EG Gas Conference.

EG Gas Conference is expected to bring together more than 300 top executives, decision-makers and leaders in the field from the country and abroad.

According to the organizers of the conference, the event “has received sponsorship from companies such as Ophir, Marathon Oil Corporation, EG LNG, Atlantic Methanol Production Company, BG Group, Mitsui, Marubeni, HESS, Schlumberger and Noble Energy.

The post Equatorial Guinea To Award More Oil Blocks appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

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 $7.68 billion a year earlier, despite “production troubles in Nigeria.”

Shell reported that it recorded the results on the back of growth projects, and improvement in downstream profitability.

Shell however warned that the oil and gas industry continued to witness “significant” energy price volatility due to economic and political crisis. The crisis, it said, has impacted it negatively as its revenue stepped down to $112.8 billion in the January-March period from $119.92 billion in the previous year.

Shell said total oil and gas production grew to 3.559 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter, from 3.552 million in the same period in 2012.

It also said it would increase its first quarter 2013 dividend to $0.45 per ordinary share, up 5 percent from last year.

According to Richard Hunter, Head of Equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, ”Shell has emulated its rivals in beating expectations for the quarter, although investors are well aware that this is only part of a long game strategy.”

Hunter added that, “the company remains committed to selective acquisitions, non-core asset sales where appropriate and an extensive project plan which currently numbers 30 in an effort to underpin future production across several energy sources.”

The post Shell Invests In Nigerian Deep-Water Project, Announces Profit appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

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 million more to acquire the stake - 4.05 percent of the deep water Tano Block as well as 1.7 percent in the offshore Jubilee field - much of which went into bribing officials both in South Africa and the West African country.

PetroSA, in response, admitted some improprieties occurred in its bid to secure the deal, noting that it was “competing for these opportunities against many established players.” But the GNPC in a statement has denied taking any bribes from the South African company.

An influential think-tank in Ghana, IMANI, is already mounting pressure on Ghana’s President John Mahama to set up a committee to investigate the GNPC .

In a statement, Ghana’s national oil company said “GNPC categorically denies any act of irregularity or corruption on its part in the transaction. The sale of Sabre’s interests in Ghana to PetroSA was a private commercial arrangement between two independent and willing parties (seller and buyer) dictated by international norms. GNPC did not play any role in the pricing and sale negotiations”.

The statement further implied that GNPC’s role in the transaction was limited to ensuring that the requirements of the Petroleum Agreements were duly complied with, including the fact that “PetroSA would be able to meet the financial capability and technical competency obligations that it would be assuming.”

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This development is attributed to recent financial challenges in paying the main contractor, SINOPEC, on the site.

The Chinese company is already threatening to leave the project site. Ghana’s Gas company has also admitted that some operational challenges might delay the proposed end of 2013 deadline for completion.

Though the laws of Ghana do not allow flaring of Gas on the Jubilee field, the delays could force minimum flaring.

One of Ghana’s energy analysts, Muhammed Amin Adam, Executive Director of the Africa Centre for Energy Policy explains, “in this case the law also allows that you can flare for operational reasons and you can flare when you are compelled to. So in this circumstance when we are not ready with our gas infrastructure they are compelled to flare, in that case we will have no course to make any case against them”.

Amin Adam also raised concerns about the environmental implications of the process if it happens saying: “When you flare you know the environmental implications of flaring and its for this reason Ghana has decided to uphold high levels of environmental standards and therefore if even before we mature into production we are already going to face high environmental risks, then we will not be starting well as a new oil producing country.”

The Gas infrastructure, which includes a gas processing plant and 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 Sinopec.

The post Ghana’s Jubilee Oil Field Partners May Flare Gas appeared first on Ventures Africa | .

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 with 119 filling stations and supply posts across the country.

It disclosed discussions aimed at various details of the listing were on-going.

Nuno de Oliveira, the CEO of Petromoc, said these details included the listing venue and the money to be raised with Banco Internacional de Mozambique.

“We have been evaluating it [listing plan] for about a month now with our shareholders on how best we can do this,” Fox News quoted de Oliveira as saying.

De Oliveira made this announcement after signing an initial agreement with Malaysia-based Hyrax Oil Sdn Bhd to construct a plant in Mozambique.

According to report, external investors have been dashing into Mozambique as the country moves to exploit its rich offshore gas reserves.

Mozambique was once an economic “basket case” destroyed by many decades of civil war. The country under the liberal leadership of former president Joaquim Chissano, threw back the Marxist command economy.

Its clever use of donor aid has assisted the country to calm the currency and restore other economic sectors.

China National Petroleum Corp. last month acquired a shareholding in Eni SpA’s assets in Mozambique for $4.2 billion.

And India’s state-run Oil & Natural Gas Corp. and Oil India have made a joint bid for a 20 percent stake in a Mozambique oil and gas field operated by Anadarko Petroleum Corp.

Petromoc sells lubricants, fuels and oils and it also operates storage facilities and pipelines in all main Mozambican ports.

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