Africa

FID is expected to end in 2026, not by the end of 2025 Production capacity has dropped to 150,000 barrels a day from 160,000 The country has been discovered by fellow majors PARIS, February 5 - CEO Patrick Pouyanne stated on Wednesday that the French oil major TotalEnergies will make a final decision on investment in its Namibian oil discovery by 2026. The project would produce 150,000 barrels a day. This is down from the initial 160,000 barrels a day that was discussed during its Investor Day in October. Pouyanne's previous target for the decision date on FID was 2025....

S witzerland’s top criminal court found Trafigura, a former executive and a company guilty of corruption on Friday in a case involving the payment made to an Angolan government official in exchange for oil contract. The court ordered that the trading house pay $148 million as fines and compensation, and sentenced Mike Wainwright, a former employee of itss to 32 months imprisonment. Of this time 12 months must be served. You can appeal the decision to the same court. This is the first case in Switzerland where a company was charged with corruption of an official from abroad. It's also...

The government has granted permission to Russia's biggest oil companies to continue gasoline sales until the end February. This extends a waiver that was due to expire this Friday. The Russian government lifted the temporary ban at the end of November on gasoline exported by the majority of producers. However, the restrictions were extended to other exporters, such as independent traders or re-sellers until January 31. These restrictions will continue to be in effect in February. The first ban on gasoline imports was implemented in March of last year in response to a steep rise in wholesale fuel costs and...

OPEC+ has yet to respond to a. call from U.S. President Donald Trump for lower oil prices, with. delegates from the group indicating a strategy currently in place to. begin raising oil output from April. Trump on Thursday revealed he would be asking Saudi Arabia and. the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries to bring. down the expense of oil a call he frequently made in his very first term in. the White House. Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Online Forum in Davos on. Friday, Saudi Arabia's Economy Minister Faisal alIbrahim stated. Saudi Arabia and OPEC's position...

Mozambique's global bonds toppled previously today after a report that the new government in Maputo is weighing a financial obligation restructuring following months of postelection chaos. Below are a few of the issues dealing with the resource-rich southern African country of 35 million people. WHAT IS MOZAMBIQUE'S FINANCIAL OBLIGATION CIRCUMSTANCE? Concerns about federal government finances have actually been installing in current years due to an Islamist revolt in northern Mozambique that has actually postponed plans to establish substantial gas fields. Although Mozambique's public debt-to-GDP, was up to 93.7% in 2023 from 100.3% the previous year, it is categorized by the...

Mozambique is not wanting to evaluation agreement terms with energy majors like TotalEnergies and ExxonMobil who are preparing multibilliondollar liquefied gas projects in the country, its new president stated on Friday. Daniel Chapo of the longruling Frelimo celebration took office on Wednesday, following months of opposition protests against his disputed election victory in which civil society groups say more than 300 people have been eliminated. The Southern African nation's government is relying on the energy tasks by TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and others to revolutionise its tiny economy and put unstable public financial resources on a surer footing. Describing TotalEnergies' $20 billion...

The Libyan state agency mandated to manage federal government performance has actually called for suspension of public sector appointments and contracts due to an extreme wage expense. The Administrative Control Authority (ACA) stated the number of public sector staff members in Libya had actually reached 2,099,200, with salary expenses amounting to 372 billion Libyan dinars over the past 12 years. About 89% of Libya's labour force is employed in the general public sector, the World Bank said in a 2024 report, based upon a 2022 study. The authority posted its call on Facebook on Tuesday evening, addressing the Prime Minister...

Nigeria and the United States signed an agreement on Friday to repatriate about $52.88 million in possessions forfeited by previous Nigerian oil minister Diezani AlisonMadueke and her partners. The agreement breaks the ice for the first repatriation to Nigeria of properties outside the West African nation linked to Alison-Madueke. Nigerian Justice Minister Lateef Fagbemi stated the arrangement with the U.S. enables the repatriation of approximately $52.88. million arising from the loss of the Galactica assets,. linked to the previous Petroleum Resources Minister Diezani. Alison-Madueke and her partners. The agreement follows a 2017 civil grievance filed by the. U.S. Justice Department...

Nigeria has actually stepped up its drive to punish oil theft in the Niger Delta region as it goals to increase nationwide production to 3 million barrels per day in 2025. Africa's leading oil manufacturer, which relies on the commodity for around two-thirds of state earnings and more than 90% of foreign currency revenues, has been struck by large-scale oil theft that has curbed government financial resources in the last few years. While the government estimates oil output at around 2.06 million barrels each day (bpd) in next year's budget plan, actual production hovers around 1.8 million bpd, according to...

Chadians were voting on Sunday in a parliamentary election boycotted by the opposition that will likely consolidate President Mahamat Idriss Deby's. power and finish the oilproducing country's transition towards. constitutional guideline. Deby was elected in a challenged vote in May, three years after. taking power and declaring himself interim leader when rebels. killed his father, President Idriss Deby, on the battlefield. Opposition leader Succes Masra's Transformateurs party and. numerous other celebrations boycotted Sunday's legislative election,. the country's first in over a decade. They are also boycotting. community and local elections also being hung on Sunday. Surveys opened for wanderers and...

Peru's government on Thursday stated an ecological emergency situation in a northern coastal area, where state oil company Petroperu last weekend spilled a crude oil delivery into surrounding waters of the Pacific Ocean. A vessel carrying out pre-shipment maneuvers triggered the spill on Saturday at a terminal of Peru's Talara refinery in northern Peru. Petroperu has actually not stated how much crude was spilled into the sea, however Peru's ecological watchdog OEFA stated in a. preliminary report it has affected some 10,000 square meters of. surface seawater, and the environment ministry said it has. impacted a minimum of seven beaches,...

Libya's easternbased federal government said in a statement on Wednesday that it had agreed on a proposal to end fuel subsidies and would prepare a. system to implement the contract. The administration headed by Osama Hamad, a competitor to the. worldwide acknowledged government based in Tripoli, did not. reveal further information about the proposition. It is unclear if Hamad's federal government will have the ability to. execute the proposal in the divided nation, nevertheless. In OPEC-member Libya a litre of fuel expenses simply 0.150. Libyan dinars ($ 0.03), the second-cheapest on the planet. according to the Worldwide Gas Rates online...

A head of a union in the industry said that 43 people, mainly women, died after a gold mine collapsed on Saturday in western Mali. Taoule Camara of the National Union of Gold Counters and Refineries (UCROM) said that the accident occurred near the town Kenieba, in Mali's richly gold-rich Kayes Region. He said that the women were looking for gold in open pits left by industrial miner to find scraps when they fell into the earth. The spokesperson for the Mines Ministry confirmed that the accident occurred between Kenieba Dabia but refused to provide further details, as the ministry...

The rand gained strength on Friday, after U.S. president Donald Trump announced he would impose reciprocal duties on countries that tax U.S. imported goods. Investors were also awaiting the domestic budget due next week. At 1503 GMT, the rand was trading at 18.32 per dollar, which is 0.9% higher than its previous closing. Trump, on Thursday, tasked his team of economists with planning reciprocal tariffs against every country that taxes U.S. imports. This could lead to a global trade conflict. Gold prices rose due to fears of a possible trade war. They were on track for their seventh consecutive weekly...

The European Parliament called on the European Union to stop direct budget support to Rwanda until the country breaks ties with the Tutsi M23 rebels, and grants humanitarian access to the areas of Democratic Republic of Congo that they have advanced. The parliament called for the suspension, as well, of a Memorandum of Understanding between Rwanda and the EU which aims to provide Rwanda with strategic minerals until Rwanda ceases its interference in Congo. In a press release, the MEPs condemned the occupation of Goma by M23 rebels as well as other territories in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This...

Richard Stewart, the current head of operations for the Southern Africa region of Sibanye Stillwater, will succeed Neal Froneman as CEO of the company at the end September, the company announced on Thursday. Stewart joined Sibanye back in 2014. Investors have long viewed him as a potential successor to Froneman who will turn 66 this September. Froneman is the CEO of Sibanye, which was founded in 2013 by the merger of three Gold Fields mines. Sibanye is now a diversified mining company with operations in Southern Africa, the United States and gold and platinum group metals (PGM). Froneman also pushed...

The Mali government announced that Canadian miner Robex had signed a new contract with the country to operate the Nampala mine located about 300 km south of Bamako. The mine has been operated by the company since 2017, but the new mining codes of Africa's 2nd largest gold producer require international companies to pay more taxes and give up larger stakes in assets. Robex, a company that has expressed its discontent with the new legislation by stating in September that it wanted to sell Nampala but had not yet received a reasonable offer. In a statement released by the Mali...

The rand of South Africa fell early on Tuesday, as traders assessed the impact of U.S. president Donald Trump's new tariffs on imports such as steel and aluminum. These tariffs could spark a multi-fronted trade war. At 0727 GMT the rand was trading at 18.4725 per dollar. This is about 0.1% lower than its previous closing. Trump increased tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum to 25%, "without any exceptions or exclusions", on Monday in an effort to boost production within the largest economy. ETM Analytics stated in a research report that South Africa will be "minimally affected". The note...

Impala Platinum, a South African company, said that it expects its half year profit to drop by up to 49% over the next six months as metal prices remain low. Impala, which is the second largest producer of platinum group materials used to reduce emissions from automobiles, expects its headline earnings for the six-month period ending December 31 to range between 1.65 billion and 1.95 billion Rand ($89.39-$105.65 millions), down from the previous 3.26 billion Rand. The miner stated that its earnings had been negatively affected by the lower dollar prices for its metals, as well as a strengthening rand...

The leaders of the Eastern and Southern African region met on Saturday for an unprecedented summit to find a resolution to a conflict in east Congo. Rapid advances by Rwandan-backed rebellions since January have sparked fears of a larger war. M23 rebels captured Goma last week, the largest town in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. This was the worst fighting in over a decade and thousands of people were killed. They have marched southwards towards Bukavu despite announcing an unilateral ceasefire. Paul Kagame of Rwanda, and other presidents gathered on the stage to begin the talks in Dar es Salaam....

Anglo American Platinum anticipates that its headline earnings will drop as much as 46 percent in the year 2024 due to persistently low metals and costs associated with a demerger and restructuring. The top producer of platinum-group metals, used to reduce emissions from motor vehicles, said that it expected headline earnings of between 7,6 billion rand (US$408.8 million and $484.11 million) for the year ending December 31. This is down from 14 billion in 2023. Amplats reported that the dollar price of palladium, rhodium, and platinum fell by 24 and 30 percent, respectively, over the last year. Craig Miller, the...

Anglo American, a global miner, announced on Wednesday a 6% drop in its copper production for the year of 773,000 metric tonnes and lowered its rough diamonds output forecasts for 2025-2026 due to lower demand. The London-listed company expects copper production to reach 690,000-750,000 tonnes in 2025 and 760,000-820,000 tonnes in 2026. Metal is used in electric vehicles and renewable energy infrastructure. The rough diamond production for 2024 fell 22%, to 24.7 millions carats. This is the lower end in its guidance. Anglo has reduced its production forecast to 20 million to 23 millions carats from 30 million-33 million carats...

ArcelorMittal South Africa announced on Thursday that it would delay the closing of its long steel plant operations by one month. The steelmaker is in discussions with the government about salvaging the business. The company had planned to start winding down the loss-making long-steel business by the end of last month, but has delayed it due "continuing discussions with the South African government" as well as higher-than-anticipated orders. The steelmaker announced in a press release that the outcome of the negotiations will be revealed before the end this month. The company said that a loan of 380 million rands ($20.44m)...

Syrah Resources' chief executive stated on Wednesday that the company hopes to resume production at its Balama project in Mozambique within the first quarter. This will eventually lead to the lifting force majeure. The company declared force majore in December, due to protests and civil unrest sparked by the Mozambique election results of October. This also caused it to default on U.S.-backed loan. The stability of the country has improved significantly. Shaun Verner, CEO and Managing Director of Syrah Resources, said that the last two to three weeks were much better than previous periods. We are working to resolve the...