Central Africa








Oil & Gas

Oil Exploration

Portugal's Galp says field off Namibia might include 10 bln barrels of oil

Portuguese oil company Galp Energia stated on Sunday it had concluded the very first phase of expedition in the Mopane field off the coast of Namibia and estimated it might have at least 10 billion barrels of oil. Galp stated it conducted screening operations at the Mopane-1X well in January and the Mopane-2X well in March. In both wells, which are 8 kilometres apart, it stated significant light oil columns were discovered in top quality tank sands. The Mopane field lies in the Orange Basin, along the coast of the southern African nation, where Shell and France's TotalEnergies have made...

Oil & Gas

US talks frequently with Congo's Gecamines on cobalt and copper, official says

The United States speaks regularly with the Democratic Republic of Congo's state miner Gecamines, a senior State Department authorities told , as Washington looks for to deepen relationships with key providers of cobalt and copper across the African continent. WHY IT is essential Chinese aggressive investment across Congo, Zambia and elsewhere in Africa - which holds huge supplies of minerals utilized to make electrical automobiles and other electronic devices - has for a long time raised concern in Washington. Jose Fernandez, the U.S. State Department's under secretary for economic development, energy, and the environment, said in an interview this week...

Oil & Gas

Five eliminated in fire at Perenco oil platform offshore Gabon

5 people were killed and one is missing out on after a fire on Wednesday at a Perenco oil platform off the coast of Gabon, the AngloFrench oil company stated in a declaration on Thursday. Following the incident which took place yesterday at the Perenco Simba field offshore Gabon, the fire has been snuffed out and the website has actually been safely secured, Perenco stated. We deeply are sorry for to validate that there have actually been five fatalities and a single person is still missing out on. The mishap happened on Wednesday afternoon at the Becuna platform throughout a...

Oil & Gas

Angola to maintain oil output at 1.1. million bpd through at least 2027

Angola is producing about 1.1. million barrels daily of crude, similar to its level before it exited the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Nations, and expects to maintain those volumes at least until 2027. Output at Africa's second-largest crude oil exporter has declined progressively given that striking a peak of 2 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2008. It aims to produce more natural gas to counter part of the oil decline. Our goal is at least to keep this level of production till 2027-2030, stated José Barroso, Angola's secretary of state for oil and gas. He said the rate...

Oil & Gas

Europe, Africa oil markets tighten, providing assistance to futures

Red Sea shipping hold-ups and OPEC+ supply cuts are tightening physical oil markets in Europe and Africa as well as the Brent crude market structure, loaning even more support to oil futures prices, according to traders, LSEG analysts and data. A sustained rise in crude costs would raise energy, transport and production costs and threaten to relax some of the recent falls in global inflation, just as significant reserve banks are expected to begin cutting rate of interest. On Thursday, the benchmark Brent crude futures market structure struck its most bullish given that October. The premium of the first-month contract...

Oil & Gas

West challenges China's vital minerals hold on Africa: Andy Home

China's CMOC Group overtook Glencore to become the world's. biggest producer of cobalt in 2015 as it ramped up its brand-new. Kisanfu mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The business's production jumped by 174% year-on-year to. 55,526 metric tons, representing over a quarter of worldwide. need of 213,000 loads. Kisanfu, in which Chinese battery giant CATL owns a minority. stake, has flooded the cobalt market. The Cobalt Institute. quotes worldwide production exceeded need by 12,500 loads in. 2023, making it among the most significant surpluses in recent years. CMOC is unconcerned. It plans to lift output even more this....

Fossil Fuels

Crude Oil

W. Africa Crude-Dangote refinery thirsty for crude however short on credit

Nigeria's Dangote refinery, the $20 billion plant moneyed by Africa's wealthiest man, is having difficulty reaching its complete refining capacity hamstrung by its need to obtain billions of dollars in working capital to be able to buy large volumes of crude, traders tell . * The refinery began operations in January and has actually reached half its 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) capacity in current weeks - but needs more capital to operate at complete strength, which would make it the largest refinery in Africa and Europe. * For example, Chinese state energy significant PetroChina has been waiting to dump...

Fossil Fuels

Angola hikes diesel cost in another step to cut aids

Angola's petroleum products regulator treked diesel prices by about 48% from Tuesday, part of federal government efforts to suppress costly subsidies that have strained public financial resources. The rate of diesel was increased to 200 kwanzas ($ 0.2401) a litre starting Tuesday, the regulator said in a. statement dated April 22. The rate of diesel was 135 kwanzas a litre formerly, and. the regulator left the price of other fuels like fuel and. liquefied petroleum gas the same. Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa said last month that Angola was dedicated to eliminating all fuel subsidies in. a manner in...

Fossil Fuels

Angola intends to offer $1 bln bond in 2024, eyes ESG problem -Finance Minister

Angola wishes to return to international bond markets this year with a $1 billion bond, Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa told , predicting the federal government could bring its debttoGDP ratio to 60% or below by 2027. Daves de Sousa, speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank spring conferences in Washington stated a rise in oil costs could help bring down obtaining expenses for Africa's second-largest crude oil exporter. We hope that will assist us get access to the marketplace at a. much better cost, Daves de Sousa stated, adding the federal government was....

Mining

Mineral Resources

Mineral Resources

Kazakh miner ERG rejects preventing Congo subcontracting laws

Kazakh miner Eurasian Resources Group (ERG) has rejected accusations it attempted to bypass Democratic Republic of Congo's subcontracting laws designed to increase local ownership in the mining sector, job creation, and benefits to the nation's economy. In a declaration released last week, Congo's federal government accused ERG of passing off 9 subcontracting companies as majority partners with fictitious shares in order to circumvent legislation requiring that Congolese investors own 50% of subcontracting shares. The Regulatory Authority for Farming Out in the Personal Sector, a government body, stated that more than $535 million in sales had actually incorrectly gone to foreign-owned...

Mineral Resources

Zijin cooperating with Congo probe after radiation discovered in cobalt load

Chinese mining giant Zijin Mining stated on Tuesday it would cooperate with authorities in Democratic Republic of Congo after radiation was found in a shipment of cobalt from its mine in the nation, and had remembered it. The company stated above-normal radiation levels were detected on a cobalt consignment during a regular customizeds evaluation in Botswana, despite the fact that the delivery had actually been evaluated prior to being exported. Congolese authorities suspended the activities of Zijin's. COMMUS mine over the event, which is being examined. The. miner stated the delivery had been released with a radiation. detection credentials report...

Mineral Resources

Tin rallies, stocks fall after one party takes huge position

Tin rates and spreads extended their sharp gains on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on Thursday in the wake of a big position taken by one party and stress over supply. The LME standard tin price is without a doubt the top gainer on the exchange this year, surging by 31% compared to 13% for copper, as speculators have stacked into the market. LME tin advanced 3.6% to an intraday peak of $33,945. a metric ton on Thursday, its highest given that June 2022. Supply of the metal, primarily used for solder in electronic devices,. has actually been struck by...

Mineral Resources

US should boost Africa ties to secure key minerals, report states

The U.S. must increase industrial ties with African nations to curb dependence on China for products of vital minerals, a. Washingtonbased think tank said on Tuesday. U.S. economic and national security depend on securing a. trustworthy supply of critical minerals, including from Africa,. the United States Institute of Peace stated in a report. The U.S. is nearly 100% reliant on foreign entities of. issue, mainly China, for essential critical minerals, it said, and. must develop own sources of supply to prevent being. shorthanded and susceptible to China's export curbs. Western mining business are lagging Chinese rivals in the. race to...

Mineral Resources

Congo overtakes Peru on copper output, still behind on exports

The Democratic Republic of the Congo overtook Peru as the world's 2nd largest copper producer in 2023, though it still lags the South American nation in exports, official data from both nations program. Congo produced about 2.84 million lots of copper last year, the nation's central bank reported. Peru's output was 2.76 million tons, the Andean nation's mining and energy ministry stated. Congo has actually been attracting Peru's No. 2 copper area over current years, with flagging mining investment in Peru linked to red tape and recent political chaos and protests. Chile stays the distant leading manufacturer of the red...

Mineral Resources

West challenges China's important minerals hold on Africa: Andy Home

China's CMOC Group overtook Glencore to end up being the world's. biggest manufacturer of cobalt in 2015 as it ramped up its new. Kisanfu mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The company's production leapt by 174% year-on-year to. 55,526 metric tons, representing over a quarter of international. demand of 213,000 lots. Kisanfu, in which Chinese battery giant CATL owns a minority. stake, has actually flooded the cobalt market. The Cobalt Institute. price quotes international production exceeded demand by 12,500 heaps in. 2023, making it among the greatest surpluses recently. CMOC is unconcerned. It plans to lift output further this....

Mineral Resources

Gecamines plans overhaul of mining JVs in world's leading cobalt supplier

The Democratic Republic of Congo's state miner is widening a push to extract more from its copper and cobalt joint endeavors, looking for to negotiate for greater stakes across the board to get take advantage of in management of some of its biggest mines Gecamines is also leveraging existing shareholding in mines. to negotiate off-take contracts for the function of trading copper and cobalt by itself. The miner wants more local executives on boards governing joint ventures to have a higher say in how assets are managed, Guy Robert Lukama, the Gecamines chairman, told . The strategies may indicate upgrading...