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Following the drilling of the first exploration well in Block CI-501 in Ivory Coast, Eni has made a significant gas and condensate discovery from Murene South-1X

Known by the name, Calao South, the discovery establishes the potential of the Calao channel complex that includes also the Calao discovery and represents the second largest in the country after Baleine, with estimated volumes of up to 5.0 trillion cubic feet of gas and 450 million barrels of condensate (approximately 1.4 billion barrels of oil). The discovery was made in high-quality Cenomanian sands.

Block CI-501 is operated by Eni (90%)alongside Petroci Holding (10%). Murene South-1X is located approximately 8km southwest of Murene-1X discovery well in the adjacent CI-205 block. Drilled by the Saipem Santorini drilling ship to a total depth of around 5,000 meters in a 2,200 meter water depth, the well underwent an extensive data acquisition campaign. Murene South-1X confirmed the main hydrocarbon bearing interval with a gross thickness of around 50 meters, with excellent petrophysical properties. Murene South-1X will undergo a full conventional drill stem test (DST) to assess the production capacity of the Calao discovery.

Currently, the Baleine field produces over 62 thousand barrels of oil and more than 75 million cubic feet of gas per day from Phases 1 and 2. With the launch of Phase 3, production is expected to rise to 150 thousand barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of gas per day, reinforcing Baleine as a key asset in meeting Côte d’Ivoire’s domestic energy needs.

Eni has been active in Ivory Coast since 2015. In addition to block CI-501, the company holds interests in nine other exploration blocks: CI-205, CI-504, CI-526, CI-706, CI-707, CI-708, in partnership with Petroci Holding, and CI-401, CI-801, CI-802 and Baleine AEE (in partnership with Petroci Holding, Vitol and SOCAR, subject to Governmental approvals).

Energy data and intelligence provider, TGS, has announced the Ultra Profundo multi-client 2D survey offshore Angola

The survey spans approximately 12,600 line kilometers, and Ramform Victory began operations earlier in Q1. Data acquisition is likely to be completed in around 100 days, with fast-track products available in Q3. Full data processing is scheduled for completion in Q2 2027.

The Ultra Profundo multi-client 2D survey marks the first 2D multi-client acquisition over Angola’s ultra deep-water areas since 2015 and aims to reach previously underexplored region. The survey delivers modern, long-offset seismic data critical for imaging complex pre-salt and top-salt structures as well as basin floor channel systems, significantly enhancing regional geological understanding.

Kristian Johansen, CEO of TGS, said, “Angola’s ultra deep-water margin represents one of the most exciting frontier exploration opportunities in West Africa. Our Ultra Profundo multi-client 2D program delivers high-quality seismic coverage needed to unlock pre-salt and sub-salt potential. By leveraging TGS’ acquisition and imaging capabilities, we will provide high-quality data supporting future exploration activities.”

Energy and marine consultancy, ABL, will be delivering marine warranty survey services to support the offshore construction for the Phase 4 development of the Kamose offshore gas field development in the Mediterranean Sea for North Sinai Petroleum Company (NOSPCO)

The Kamose Phase 4 development, which is located at the Eastern flank of the Nile Delta, will advance the construction and installation of three new offshore production platforms monopods, named Hoor-1&2, KSE-1 and Snefru-1.

The campaign will also cover drilling three wells via wellhead platforms and connecting its production by installing an 11 km flowline to the existing production network. The infrastructure will be connected to the main offshore pipeline and integrated with the mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) already in place at the Kamose field.

ABL’s scope of work includes technical review and approval of all project documentation, procedures, drawings and calculations. It will also deliver marine assurance and risk services for the proposed fleet, including DP (dynamic positioning) trials and consulting where relevant.

“ABL Egypt brings together local competence, marine experience, engineering expertise and expert process safety engineering to provide a comprehensive offering that will support the safe and optimised delivery of T&I operations for Kamose Phase 4. We look forward to supporting NOPSCO on this important development for Egyptian offshore gas,” said Tamer Gamil, country manager, ABL Egypt. 

Crystol Energy's founder and chief executive officer, Dr. Carole Nakhle, moderated an Africa-focused panel during the recently concluded International Energy Week in London to get a perspective on the continent's stand on decarbonisation and energy transition practices

"It's not saying that decarbonisation should be ignored, but the truth is, you can't decarbonise what you don't have. If you don't have energy, you can't be talking about decarbonisation. You have to have the energy faster than you decarbonise," said the Nigerian National Petroleum Company's chief financial officer, Adedapo Segun, in the context of poor energy access in Africa. 

Segun's case was further supported by Renaissance Africa Energy Company's managing director and chief executive officer, Tony Attah, who said that with a teeming youth population, Africa cannot compromise on industrialisation. "I think it's a no brainer that from an African lens, from a Nigerian lens, industrialisation is what will move people out of poverty. We want to be given the flexibility to use the same resources to achieve what Europe and the rest of the world has achieved. From an African lens, it's survival first. I haven't survived. You're asking me to make a choice. It's about the industrialisation of Africa...when you talk about the whole emissions and impact on climate, data suggests that the entire Africa is contributing way less than 4% so essentially, we can even carry on at two, three times the scale today, and it will not be of any significant impact," Attah said.

While Dr. Nakhle was all ears, she stressed Africa's responsibility to eliminate flaring for sustainable production. "Just by increasing the penalty on gas flaring, you motivate the companies to actually still produce oil and gas with lower carbon intensity, because I think that would be the winning step for the future, and not to continue with what was a good old fashioned way of producing oil and gas."

According to Attah, flaring has been a focus area for most creditors as part of decarbonisation strategy, which aligns with attaining zero routine flare by 2030. With engineers working on projects to deal with gas storm compression infrastructure that are capable of moving gas from flood centres to the market, there has been a massive reduction in flare now. 

Gas is already driving Africa's energy narrative, with around 620 trillion standard cubic feet coming solely from Algeria, Mozambique and Nigeria. The world has come to Africa with massive investments, not just for international market but also the domestic market. The nation is hence way past the stage of "making a case", as now its just a matter of the investments unleashing the potential that is trapped in all these countries.

"Gas is going to be the game changer for us. So we are looking to develop our gas resources and export the gas to derive the financing for developing the country, and bridging the infrastructure gap," said AGPC's managing director, Effiong Okon, as he gave some perspective on Nigeria's national budget against the infrastructure budget of European countries.

"We have a budget of just about 20 something million dollars. That is for the whole country, and 45% of that goes to debt service. Another 15% goes to security. So you have 60% of the budget locked in debt service and security. And with that, you really cannot build infrastructure. You need to improve the standard of living. It becomes impossible. I checked on some of the European countries, Germany, for example, for just for infrastructure in 2026 [it is] going to spend close to US$200bn. So we really need to find the prosperity to develop," he said. 

Dr. Nakhle also raised the question of Africa's biggest paradox. "Africa is rich in energy resources, and yet it is poor when it comes to energy consumption. What do you think needs to change to change this reality on the ground?" she asked.

Attah's answer was that Africa is looking at a typically extractive industry when it comes to oil and gas. While the resource belongs to the nation, it was entirely under the control of international oil companies. Due to this structural dislocation, IOCs will extract, go and develop their respective countries with it. But now with majors announcing massive divestments on the back of onshore maturation, companies like Renaissance were feeling the heat. "But I have to thank NNPC for just supporting the divestment to go through. So we bought the share assets, and you can imagine that our philosophy and vision will be different from that of an IOC. We have a very audacious vision to be the African leader in energy. The IOC will not want to be the African leader in energy. They want to be the global leaders, but we want to be the African leader in energy. We want to enable energy security, [and] we want to bring about the industrialisation of Nigeria. Now that was not an assignment for the IOC...We are now taking our destinies in our hands to the extent that we will have no choice than to ensure that that shared prosperity from this energy resource base changes the narrative. On behalf of Nigerians, starting from Nigeria, pivoting to rest of Africa, which is why we like to say as Renaissance, we were made in Nigeria, built for Africa," he said. 

On the energy transition front, Silvia Macri, Middle East and Africa lead, Power & Renewables, S&P Global, said, "If you think about diversification, some countries in western Africa, Kenya in eastern Africa, are pushing either away from a fossil fuel heavy energy mix, or diversifying the sources, instead of having one major source of the produces, power or energy for the country; just choosing all the different options that are available. And this is something that South Africa, for example, has started doing at a faster pace. Kenya is probably the country where this has happened at the highest level, because it has a huge availability of geothermal resources, which allowed the diversification into renewables, but western African countries are bringing gas generation in the mix together with renewables...going forward, [it is important that] the decisions that they're making are more for the longer term, and they're not just solving the problem that is immediate."

Angola’s national oil company, Sonangol's projected operating and capital expenditure will be covered by a US$1.75bn syndicated receivables purchase facility that has been announced by African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) 

Brought into effect in collaboration with other mandated lead arrangers, the US$1.75bn facility has been designed with Sonangol's export-linked trade structures in mind. The move aligns with Afreximbank’s push for Africa’s prominence in global trade by promoting demand-intensive commodities for export. This strategic financing will support Sonangol in unlocking better access into the export market, which can prove to be a goldmine for the region given global oil supply volatilities. 

Elaborating on the strategic financing, Afreximbank's Global Trade Bank executive vice president, Haytham Elmaayergi, said, “The transaction will help Sonangol meet its operating and capital needs, sustain export flows, increase energy availability, and support Angola’s broader industrialisation and economic transformation, while directly contributing to increased African participation in global trade.” 

Afreximbank is taking an innovative approach in turning oil price volatility in favour of Africa by implementing de-risked structures. This eases security arrangements while securing returns for lenders. 

Afreximbank has framed the US$1.75bn facility in a catalytic and balance-sheet-led manner to ensure sustainable support to Angola's oil and gas sector. This will encourage Angolan operators to take up more exploration projects in the region, in turn boosting value creation and export strength. 

Acknowleding the facility as a strategic move in championing African business globally, Elmaayergi said, “This US$1.75 billion syndicated receivables facility underscores Afreximbank’s commitment to supporting African energy champions and safeguarding export capacity that is critical to our member states’ macroeconomic sovereignty and trade resilience. By deploying innovative structures that provide comfort to lenders while easing traditional security requirements, we are able to crowd source much needed capital into strategic sectors.”

"The first thing that is important for the overall management of the company is to start trying to be visible," said the group chief executive officer of Nigerian National Petroleum Company, Bashir Bayo Ojulari, at the International Energy Week, while speaking to Andy Brown, the president of Energy Institute, which recently hosted the event's seventh edition in London

As the NNPC works towards achieving 3 million barrels of oil per day by 2030, the government-turned-private company is reviewing its portfolio as it undergoes major revisioning and restructuring. Ojulari hailed this as a very bold step on the Nigerian President's part, especially because the injection of international oil company veterans complemented the company's regional structure to form a new leadership team.

"Based on what we have seen so far, we are firstly restructuring the shape of our partnerships. Majority of our production, as you know, is in partnership with Shell, ExxonMobil, and other private companies. We focused on aligning our programmes and plans with these partners so that we have a joint committee," he said, alongside highlighting financing as a second challenge, which is also driving the company's portfolio decisions. 

NNPC's vision lies in pushing industrialisation within Nigeria and the rest of sub-Saharan Africa, while expanding the localisation of both oil and gas. The company's focus on meeting energy demand within Africa stands clear even at international platforms such as the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, where its strategy is more about deepening utilisation of its own resources than just producing and exporting. To ramp up expansion on the downstream side, the major Dangote refinery besides, several local refineries are currently operational as well. NNPC has thus identified significant downstream projects that can potentially support additional power generation, industrial gas-based industries, fertilisers and petrochemical points. Last year alone five agreements have been signed to advance utilisation across the region.

Gas is also a major element for NNPC in catapulting industrialisation in Africa. For starters, industrial parks in Nigeria were identified as supply points for mass consumption. These will be brought under the mega-infrasrtucture of the highly anticipated Ajaokuta–Kaduna–Kano Natural Gas Pipeline and the Obiafu-Obrikom-Oben pipeline projects that are ready for commissioning this year. The combined capacity of these two pipelines are set to exceed 2 billion cubic feet of gas per day.

"We're passionate about connecting Africa," said Ojulari as he mentioned the African Atlantic Gas Pipeline that is set to run across West Africa down to Morocco. Expressing excitement regarding the project's viability inspite of its challenges, he said, "But today it's commercially very profitable venture...our plan is to just go in chunks. So the next is to go to Ivory Coast." Assuring that a list of countries are lined up to join the project, he explained, "Some of those countries also have gas resources, but they do not have the economy or scale. So the idea of that pipeline is that those countries that have stranded gas can also connect their gas to the pipeline as well as take the gas."

Having served six years as the managing director of Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company, Ojulari's new role demands fresh approach towards success. "In Shell and in other IOC companies...we focus on the financial side of the opportunity...And then when we are all done, let's look at the non technical," he said while explaining how IOCs have their own framework with technical, economic, commercial, organisational and political aspects. And once all that are figured out, they check the competition in the industry.

On the other hand, speaking of his new role, he said, "We can't afford to do that in my world. We start with the political...It becomes more critical because here NNPC is owned by the 230 million Nigerians. They are shareholders. They have appointed two entities -- the finance ministry and the petroleum industry to be the holders of the shares. So our accountability is to these 230 million people. We cannot afford to exclude ourselves from the political structure. We are carrying people along...bringing in the key people."

He went on to add, "We are starting a project. You need to bring somebody from the Minister of Finance. We bring them up. So that way we all get to be part of the project. We're making progress...we are more confident, and we are getting a lot of support in terms of the direction we're going."

According to Ojulari, establishing capital and organisational discipline is critical in achieving operational excellence and NNPC's future repositioning. He acknowledged the role of the company's leadership in bringing on board the sheer knowledge around how exploration and production businesses should be run, and how that knowledge is being transmitted to the country's gas power, new energy and downstream business. This also allows the company to be prepared to demonstrate "what it looks like" as when political influence comes into question, a lot depends "around the ability to show what it looks like". 

While the fundamental structures around the paperwork are in place for NNPC's transition into a private company post the Petroleum Industry Act 2021, changing the deep-rooted culture still remains one of the biggest challenges. "From being a corporation to a privately owned company, what we have realised is that the Nigerians are not fully clear of the [transition]. It requires a lot of interaction." 

The community-based surveillance structure that has been introduced by the government to address oil theft issues in Nigeria has proved a success on this matter. Involving the combined efforts of not just the security forces but also the community, a 100% availability was achieved in production reconciliation in the terminals, which earlier went as low as 10%.

"Most times we look at [such] challenges from a security perspective, but is a fundamental social problem. Here you have an environment where you still need a lot of development and a lot of social structure. So what was unique about this surveillance structure was that it was a community based surveillance structure which then combined the effort of the community as well as the effort of the security forces. And what we started to see is that once we integrated and focused on development of the communities as well, we started achieving 100% availability...for the last nine months now," said Ojulari.