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The Libya NOC has found the OMV Austria-operated Essar discovery commercially viable

This comes after the B1-106/4 well was drilled. The company had framed a development plan evaluation process, confirming the discovery’s commercial viability, and submitted it to the NOC. 

Total reserves from the discovery are estimated at 195 million barrels of oil from the upper and lower Sabil reservoirs, with an expected production capacity of about 5,000 barrels per day.

Development work for the discovery will begin under the operator, Zueitina Oil Operations Company, and is expected to bring it into production as quickly as possible thanks to the site’s proximity to existing surface facilities. 

Libya NOC has been putting in a lot of efforts to ramp up the region's offshore resources, granting several licenses to oil majors. MOL Group has signed a production sharing agreement with its partners, Repsol and Türkiye Petrolleri AO (TPAO) for an offshore exploration area in the Mediterranean Sea, after being granted an exploration licence by LIbya's NOC. 

“We are excited that our joint project with Repsol and TPAO has entered a new phase with the signing of a production sharing agreement. This also means a new milestone in the revitalisation of Libya’s oil and gas industry and we are honoured to be part of it. Libya holds strategic importance for Europe and offers an exceptional offshore exploration opportunity in North Africa. We are committed to contributing our expertise to Libya’s economy, while also strengthening the energy security of Central Eastern Europe through a new source.“ said Zsombor Marton, executive vice president of MOL Group Exploration and Production. 

The NOC also saw the start-up of hydrocarbon production from Sabratha Compression Project, which is a joint venture with Eni by the name of Mellitah Oil & Gas. The Sabratha Compression Project comprises an installation of a new 1,600-ton compression module on the Sabratha platform, equipped with new compression trains, providing an overall compression capacity of about 440 MMscfd.

Viridien has started a seismic reimaging project in the Tano Basin, Ivory Coast, called CDI25, which explorers can refer to as a drill-ready multi-client dataset to unlock opportunities along the West African Atlantic margin

Viridien has been active in the Ivory Coast since the last four years, and CDI25 comes as an upgrade to this longstanding subsurface reimaging programme. With the deployment of digital processing and imaging workflows, including Ghost Wavefield Elimination, advanced de-multiple, and Time-Lag Full-Waveform Inversion will help deliver high bandwidth, enhanced deep imaging and sharp structural and stratigraphic details.

Covering an area of 6,555 sq km, the fast-track CDI25 results are expected by Q4 2026, before final deliverables by Q2 2027. Once out in the market, explorers will be able to access a seamless, basin-scale 3D seismic volume across 16,000 sq km of the Tano Basin.

With the recent discovery in the Calao Channel complex, explorers can use the dataset for invaluable subsurface insights to increase their chances of success in the region. To top it off, it can also be used to gain regional context into the adjacent acreage of the Baleine field for further opportunities such as lead maturation, de-risking, and further exploration delineation.

Dechun Lin, head of Earth Data, Viridien, said, “The recent Murene South and Baleine field discoveries highlight the growing importance of Tano Basin and the industry value of our multi-year reimaging programme. Viridien is proud to support exploration offshore Ivory Coast with cutting-edge data that is generating new insights to reveal further opportunities in this prolific basin.”

The ADIPEC 2026 Technical Conferences, hosted by ADNOC, have attracted a combined record of 7,261 paper submissions from energy professionals and researchers worldwide, as the industry faces the challenges of rising demand, growing energy security pressures and rapid technological change

The Technical Conference organised by SPE and the Downstream Technical Conference organised by dmg events have together seen submissions increase by 196 compared with 2025. AI & Digital Transformation is now the largest category in the SPE programme, with 1,296 submissions and an 11.6% increase year on year, as optimisation, automation and decision-support applications continue to reshape the industry’s efficiency and delivery.

The Digital Transformation & Advanced Manufacturing was also the fastest-growing theme for the Downstream Technical Conference, rising 58.6% to become the top category in the programme and reflecting the accelerating adoption of digital technologies across refining, chemicals and industrial operations. The Downstream Technical Conference recorded its highest-ever submission intake with 977 papers, up 24.9% on 2025.

Haitham Al Jenaibi, EVP Development & Production (Gas), ADNOC Upstream, ADIPEC 2026 Technical Conference chairman, said, “At a time when energy systems are being asked to deliver more than ever, this record number of submissions reflects the depth of innovation across our industry. It reaffirms that ADIPEC remains the trusted leading technical platform that attracts state-of-the-art technologies and innovation, convening global experts to advance scalable solutions and strengthen the energy sector’s resilience and competitiveness”.

A new category, Techno-Economic Design & Strategic Decision-Making, has received 85 submissions, reflecting growing demand for technical approaches that combine engineering excellence with commercial and strategic thinking, helping organisations navigate an increasingly complex operating environment

Thomas Löffler, senior vice president – ADIPEC, dmg events, commented, “This year’s Technical Conferences’ submissions send a clear signal: that AI has moved from theory to infrastructure. The range and complexity of submissions confirm that the technical community is doing the hard work of embedding these solutions across operations; not as a future ambition, but as an essential component of efficient and resilient energy systems.”

Across the SPE programme, submissions grew in Drilling, up 112 papers, and Unconventional Resources, up 14%, demonstrating an increased focus on near-term supply and production resilience, while integrated Field Development and Energy Addition/Low-Carbon saw contractions of 19.4% and 35.1% respectively.

In the Downstream programme, Circular Economy, Resource Efficiency & Recycling grew 52.5% to 61 papers, pointing to sustained technical interest in resource efficiency alongside the broader supply-side shift and confirming a continuing focus on longer-term sustainability considerations even as near-term security pressures intensify.

The UAE, India, Saudi Arabia, China and the USA were the top five submitting countries across the SPE conferences.

ADIPEC 2026 will take place in Abu Dhabi from 2–5 November 2026, bringing together more than 239,000 attendees, 1,800 speakers, 16,500 delegates and 2,250 exhibiting companies to advance the partnerships, technologies and practical solutions needed to strengthen energy systems under pressure and support long-term economic growth.

Following preliminary estimates from drilling activities offshore Eastern Mediterranean, Eni is anticipating the presence of approximately 2 trillion cubic feet of gas initially in place and 130 Mbbl of associated condensates

Discovered from the Denise W 1 exploration well, it especially aligns with the major's near-field and infrastructure-led exploration strategy as it comes with the potential for a massive fast-track development. The well is positioned less than 10 kms away from existing infrastructure, belonging to the Temsah Concession lying 70 km offshore in 95 m of water depth.

As part of substantial investments in brownfield assets, Eni had secured a 20-year renewal of the Temsah Concession in 2025 from the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation and Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company. The discovery thus comes as a significant return of investment for the oil major, similar to the now-producing Temsah field, which also featured a gas-bearing sandstone reservoir of excellent quality with about 50 m of net pay like the Denise well.

Eni's joint venture with EGPC, Petrobel, which operates the Denise Development Lease of the Temsah Concession, secures boosted gas output for the country, contributing to its national goals and energy security.

Eni operates the Denise Development Lease of the Temsah Concession with a 50% contractor working interest, alongside bp which holds the remaining 50%. 

Eni has been active in Egypt since 1954 and today holds a diversified portfolio spanning exploration, development, and production, with oil and gas production of 242 kboed equity in 2025. 

In line with Nigeria's strategy to expand reach in export market, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has globally released its new crude grade – Cawthorne 

With an API gravity of 36.4 that denotes the light and sweet kind, the Cawthorne crude rules global market demand because of its unmatched petrol and diesel yields. Comparable to Bonny Light, Cawthorne crude blend is the latest from Nigeria’s basket of crude grades, building on recent additions such as Nembe and Utapate. 

The consistent market launches come from optimised production, helping Nigeria to solidify its base in the export market with diverse offerings. The Cawthorne Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) vessel, which is strategically positioned offshore Bonny, Rivers State for enhanced energy security and operational efficiency in easy crude evacuation from OML18, comprised the maiden 950,000 barrels cargo for export. Loaded on an MT Eburones vessel, it headed to the Netherlands, and unto the global market. 

As Nigeria aims to attain crude production of three million barrels per day and gas output to 12 billion cubic feet per day by 2030, the international launch of Cawthorne will unlock value from its asset base and deepen market competitiveness.

“This milestone reflects the direction we have set for NNPC Limited—one anchored on execution, partnership, and value creation. We are moving decisively from resource potential to resource monetisation, ensuring that every asset delivers measurable commercial outcomes.

"The successful export of the Cawthorne crude grade is not an isolated achievement; it is part of a broader, deliberate strategy to grow production, deepen market relevance, and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a reliable global energy supplier. We remain firmly focused on delivering sustainable growth in line with national objectives and global market expectations,” said Bashir Bayo Ojulari, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, as he acknowledged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership and OML 18 partners' strong collaboration in achieving the milestone. 

Technological innovation, strategic partnerships, and operational discipline will remain central to NNPC Limited's vision as the organisation works towards value creation from Nigeria's vast hydrocarbons resources.

"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.