West Africa

The Nigerian government's plan to offer unrefined priced in the regional currency is failing, with refiners, including the giant Dangote Oil Refinery, saying they are still not able to protect adequate materials. To address obstacles in accessing foreign currency, the government in July stated it would sell crude priced in naira to local refineries for an initial six months starting in October. We need 650,000 barrels each day, (state oil company NNPC Ltd). consented to provide a minimum of 385,000 bpd however they are not even. delivering that, stated Edwin Devakumar, head of the Dangote. refinery. The refinery constructed by...

Nigeria's state oil firm NNPC stated on Thursday it had increased oil production to 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd), with the possibility of getting to 2 million bpd by yearend. Oil production at Africa's leading crude exporter was approximated at 1.3 million bpd in October, according to manufacturer group OPEC's newest report. Nigeria frequently counts condensate production of around 250,000 bpd as part of its production. The NNPC stated the boost was an outcome of collective efforts with its joint endeavor operators and its partners on production-sharing agreements, along with security firms and the federal government. The group has...

The Dangote Oil Refinery has capability to produce winter season diesel for the European market, an executive stated on Tuesday, a more sign of its capacity to disrupt the global refining market. The refinery developed by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote on the borders of Lagos is expected to hit production of 550,000 barrels daily (bpd) this year, equivalent to 85% of its 650,000-barrel capacity. It started operations in January with output of products consisting of naphtha and jet fuel and started processing gas in September. We will have surplus production for export in all our items - gas, diesel, jet...

Nigeria's Dangote oil refinery has a stockpile of 500 million litres of fuel, its billionaire creator stated, countering claims by online marketers who asserted they required to supplement Dangote's supplies with imports to meet fuel lacks. Nigeria's President, Bola Tinubu, had summoned oil regulators, the head of the state-owned NNPC, the finance minister, and Aliko Dangote to a meeting in Abuja on Tuesday. The function was to examine a policy requiring NNPC to offer petroleum to the Dangote refinery in local naira currency in an effort to ease forex pressure and help the mega refinery safe sufficient crude to meet...

The following are the leading stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has actually not verified these stories and does not attest their accuracy. Headings - Volkswagen fined by UK regulator for treatment of consumers in monetary problem - Nigeria declines Shell's planned sale of $1.3 bln onshore production system - UK will offer $3 bln towards G7 loan for Ukraine - UK workers' rights reforms to cost services 5 bln pounds a year - Serious Scams Workplace probes ₤ 112mn hotel developed by leading UK trade union Introduction - UK's monetary regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, on Monday fined Volkswagen...

Nigerian fuel traders are increase gas imports to enhance supply from the Dangote Refinery following getting worse fuel lines, the head of a local traders group said on Thursday. The Dangote Refinery began processing gas in September, with strategies to supply a preliminary 25 million litres day-to-day and slowly increase output to the 35 million the business believes would please regional need. Our members have actually been importing petrol for weeks to satisfy the shortfall from the Dangote Refinery, said Clement Isong, CEO of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria. Other traders grouped under the Independent Petroleum Online marketers...

Nigeria took a significant step in its quest to earn revenue from its large gas reserves, signing a. handle joint venture partners to provide gas to a proposed. $ 3.5 billion Brass fertilizer and petrochemical plant, an. official stated on Friday. Under the agreement, joint venture partners including Shell. , TotalEnergies and Eni will deliver. an approximated 270 million standard cubic feet of gas daily to. the plant in Brass, in Nigeria's coastal Bayelsa state. Petroleum Ministry Permanent Secretary Nicholas Agbo Ella. stated the Gas Sale and Purchase Arrangement is a part of the Brass. Fertilizer and Petrochemical Job, which...

Nigeria's local fuel traders can now buy petrol directly from the Dangote Oil Refinery, ending stateoil company NNPC's special purchasing rights as the nation relocates to completely decontrol its processing sector, the financing minister said on Friday. The Dangote Oil Refinery began processing fuel in September and announced that NNPC Ltd would be the sole purchaser. This arrangement permitted the federal government to continue to offer subsidies on oil products. Nevertheless, NNPC hiked fuel costs by over 15% on Wednesday, offering fuel at market value for the first time in over three decades, marking the exit from a costly subsidy...

An Italian court sentenced on Tuesday 2 Milan district attorneys to 8 months in jail for failing to file documents that would have supported energy group Eni's position in a worldwide corruption case. Eni, Shell, and all the defendants were nonetheless acquitted by a court in Milan in March 2021 in what became referred to as the market's most significant corruption case, which focused on the $1.3 billion acquisition of a Nigerian oilfield a years earlier. Judges in a court in the northern city of Brescia ruled that Milan district attorneys Fabio De Pasquale and Sergio Spadaro had a. legal...

Equatorial Guinea asked judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday to decline Gabon's claim to several islands in possibly oilrich waters in the Gulf of Guinea. The African neighbours, both substantial oil manufacturers, have asked the United Nations' leading court to settle a disagreement centring on the small island of Mbanié, less than a kilometre (about 1,000 lawns) long, off the coast of Gabon. Gabon's position is factually and lawfully untenable, stated Equatorial Guinea's representative at the court, Domingo Mba Esono. The dispute has actually been going on because 1972, when Gabon's army drove Equatorial Guinea soldiers...

Nigeria's Dangote Oil Refinery has actually begun processing gas after delays caused by current crude shortages, an executive stated on Monday. The $20 billion refinery on the borders of Lagos, constructed by Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote, started operations in January with output of products consisting of naphtha and jet fuel. With a capability of 650,000 barrels each day, Africa's largest refinery promises to relieve oil producer Nigeria's expensive reliance on imported oil items. We are evaluating the item (fuel) and subsequently it will start flowing into the item tanks, said Devakumar Edwin, a vice president at Dangote Industries Limited. He...

Nigeria's stateowned NNPC Ltd. oil business said it has started the tender procedure for the. operation of the Warri and Kaduna refineries, which are. arranged to start processing crude this year. The oil refineries, which are being upgraded after being. shut for a number of years, have the capacity to process 125,000. barrels per day (bpd) and 110,000 bpd, respectively. Nigeria, which is Africa's biggest oil producer, is looking for. operators to make sure reliability and sustainability towards. satisfying the country's fuel supply and energy security. commitments, NNPC said in a public notification on Thursday. Warri and Kaduna are amongst...

Canadian miner Barrick Gold stated on Wednesday it had actually sent an arbitration demand to the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, to settle a dispute with Mali over its LouloGounkoto gold mine complex. Barrick, the world's secondlargest gold miner based on production, and the Mali junta have actually remained in dispute given that 2023 over an agreement for Barrick based upon the country's brand-new mining guidelines. The battle has resulted in a number of levels of escalation, including Mali providing an arrest warrant for Barrick CEO Mark Bristow this month. Barrick owns 80% of LouloGounkoto, with the Mali...

Barrick Gold will suspend operations in Mali if gold shipments continue to be obstructed, the company said on Monday as it has a hard time to reach agreement with authorities on a brand-new mining code in the West African country. Conditions at the miner's Loulo-Gounkoto complex have shabby substantially, Barrick stated, adding that staff members have actually been imprisoned without cause and deliveries of bullion have been obstructed. If shipments stay suspended, Barrick will be forced to suspend operations, further affecting the practicality of this important financial chauffeur for Mali, the business stated. A representative for Mali's mines ministry did...

The arrest of mining executives in Mali, dangers by Burkina Faso's junta to strip permits and the seizure of a Frenchrun uranium website in Niger have unsettled Western miners running in West Africa and could limit even more investments. Day-to-day production in Mali and Burkina Faso has up until now been mostly unaffected. The escalation is anticipated, nevertheless, to hit companies seeking financing and insurance coverage - curbing supply growth in Africa's engine of gold output, more than a lots individuals, including mining staff members, financiers, insurance providers and federal government sources, told Reuters. The push by Mali, Burkina Faso...

Swiss cement maker Holcim will leave its Nigerian organization through the sale of its nearly 84% stake in Lafarge Africa to China's Huaxin Cement in a $1 billion offer, it stated on Sunday. The deal lines up with Holcim's technique to enhance its portfolio and focus on high-growth regions, including the coming spin-off of its North American company, which remains on track for a U.S. listing in the very first half of 2025. The transaction is expected to close in 2025, subject to regulative approval, Holcim's declaration said, without elaborating on the factor for this specific sale. In November last...

French nuclear fuels business Orano alerted on Friday of a weakening monetary scenario at its Somair uranium plant in Niger, as the West African country increasingly seeks to new partners such as Russia in its mining sector. Niger is among the world's leading producers of uranium, the most widely used fuel for nuclear energy, with France's. Orano a significant player in the sector. However, the business environment for global companies in. the nation has become unpredictable after a military coup last. year. Orano said in October it had been forced to suspend. production at the Somair mine in the north...

New capability for transforming bauxite into alumina due online next year is set to ease tight supplies and potentially halt a recordbreaking cost rally of the product utilized to make aluminium. Higher alumina rates outside China have turned the top producer and consumer into a net exporter this year from a web importer and boosted costs of aluminium, which is utilized in the transportation, construction and packaging markets. Disturbances in supplies of bauxite from Guinea and Brazil and output suspensions in Australia added to a 70% surge in alumina rates this year to a record 5,645 yuan ($ 779.77) per...

Gold Fields might try to find buyers for its smaller mines in Ghana and Peru to focus on larger operations and is intending to make brand-new mineral discoveries at both mines to enhance their appeal, CEO Mike Fraser stated on Thursday. The Johannesburg-based gold miner is shifting focus to advancing its new Salares Norte mine in Chile as well tasks coming from Osisko Mining, which it recently purchased for about $ 1.6 billion. Gold Fields could potentially sell its Damang mine in Ghana where it is just processing stockpiled ore after stopping mining operations last year, Fraser stated. The miner...

Shares of Australian gold miner Resolute Mining Ltd plunged 32% on Monday in their worst day in 16 years, after 3 of its staff members consisting of CEO Terence Holohan were detained by federal government authorities in Mali. Holohan and two other company executives remained in Bamako, the West African nation's capital, to hold talks with the local mining and tax authorities concerning their operations however were suddenly detained on Friday, the company stated. Shares of the gold miner slumped as much as 32% to A$ 0.455,. their worst day because October 2008 on Monday. The stock was down. 30.6%...

Barrick Gold, the world's No. 2 gold miner, is confident of concluding talks for a. new mining code with Mali's juntaled government before the end. of the year, CEO Mark Bristow told Reuters on Thursday. Talks in between Toronto-based Barrick and the authorities in. Mali on how to implement brand-new mining guidelines governing its. Loulo-Gounkoto mining complex, one the greatest cash cow in. Mali, have actually dragged on for months. The West African country is requiring about $500 million in. overdue taxes from Barrick, Reuters reported mentioning sources, as. the government tries to wring more income from the sector, which....

Londonlisted Endeavour Mining said on Saturday it had a goal of producing about 200,000 ounces of gold annually from 2025 from its 2nd gold mine in Ivory Coast. Lafigue Mine, inaugurated on Saturday, lies about 500 kilometres (km) northeast of the industrial capital Abidjan, in the Dabakala area. It started gold production in early August and is anticipated to produce in between 90,000 and 100,000 ounces by the end of the year, the company said. In a declaration, Endeavour stated it had actually invested 250 billion CFA francs ($ 415 million) in the project, which it expects to have a...

Aluminium rates rose in London on Friday on concerns that supply disturbances from significant exporter of the feed material Guinea would even more tighten up the market for alumina, the main active ingredient in making aluminium. Emirates Global Aluminium stated on Friday the exports of alumina basic material bauxite from its subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation were suspended by customs and it was looking for clarity from customizeds on the factor. Three-month aluminium on the London Metal Exchange (LME). increased 2.5% to $2,650 per metric load by 1025 GMT. Alumina. rates on the Shanghai Futures Exchange (SHFE) leapt to a. record...

Prices of alumina on the Shanghai Futures Exchange leapt more than 6% to a record high on Friday on issues of bauxite supply disruption from Guinea amid an already tight market. Later in the day, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) stated bauxite exports from its subsidiary Guinea Alumina Corporation ( GAC) are suspended by customizeds. Bauxite is improved into alumina, the primary ingredient in making aluminium. We are seeking clearness from customs on the reason for this action, and are working to resolve this as rapidly as possible, EGA stated in a declaration in action to Reuters ask for remark. Production...