Oil and gas production was a boon for one of Africa’s smallest nations, but it is now caught between dwindling hydrocarbon reserves and the pressures of the energy transition.
Azule Energy, an equal joint venture between BP and Italian oil major Eni for their Angolan business, has signed an agreement with Rhino Resources of Namibia for a 42.5 per cent interest in the country’s offshore oil bloc in the Orange Basin.
Oando’s COO Irune has revealed the firm expects to scale production up to 100,000bpd by 2029, driven by new drilling.
ADNOC increased its oil production capacity to 4.85 million bpd ahead of the next OPEC meeting.
The country’s stated aim is to reach 5 million bpd capacity by 2027.
OPEC’s current production cuts are set to run through the end of June, but the group may decide to extend those cuts at its next meeting.
Demand for loans from the oil and gas industry fell by 6% last year.
Oil and gas producers’ ratio of net debt to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization has dropped from 2.4 in 2020 to 0.8 last year.
Strong cash positions puts the oil & gas industry in a position to invest more of its own capital in new production.
Global Data: Aramco is leading oil companies in AI investment.
Saudi Aramco spent $3.5 billion on research and development last year.
As for AI itself, the technology was deployed in areas such as oil exploration, fault monitoring, and cyber threat detection.
Norway saw cash flow from its stakes in oil and gas fields nearly halve in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023, as natural gas prices slumped and gas consumption in Europe was below expectations, said state company Petoro, which manages field holdings of Western Europe’s top oil and gas producer
With the potential approval of ExxonMobil’s $1.28 Billion asset sale to Seplat, Nigeria anticipates increased oil production.
Oil prices fell for a third day on Wednesday amid increasing hopes of a ceasefire agreement in the Middle East and rising crude inventories and production in the U.S., the world’s biggest oil consumer.
Brent crude futures for July fell 70 cents, or 0.8%, to US$85.63 a barrel by 0456 GMT. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for June declined 75 cents, or 0.9%, to US$81.18 per barrel.
After the biggest first quarter for global upstream dealmaking in five years, the industry could see another $150 billion of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the remainder of 2024. With global M&A deal value crossing the $64 billion mark already this year, it represents the strongest first-quarter performance since 2019 and a 145% increase on the first quarter of 2023, fueled primarily by consolidation in the US shale patch.