Eni's East African FLNG development plan in Mozambique approved

Floating LNG

Italian oil company Eni has won its approval from the Mozambique government to build its planned Coral floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant.

The company, is targeting to sell all the LNG from the plant to British oil company BP. It is expected to make a final investment decision (FID) this year but has now overcome one of the biggest hurdles.

Tanzania makes great onshore natural gas discovery

An additional onshore discovery of 2.17 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of possible natural gas deposits has been made in Tanzania. This raises the nations estimated recoverable natural gas reserves to more than 57 tcf.

The onshore reserves were found at a field licensed to the United Arab Emirates' Dodsal Group located at Ruvu basin in Coast region, near the country's commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, the local media reported.

Refinery to be used as storage facility for crude oil

Kenya Petroleum Refinery Plant in Mombasa

The fate of Kenya’s oil refinery has been determined.  Kenya Petroleum Refineries Limited plant, (the only refinery in the region) will be converted into a storage facility as the country gears up for commercial oil production. The decision is part of recommendations contained in a report by an inter-ministerial committee formed last July to review how best to utilise the idle refinery. The report will be released later this week to the Energy and Petroleum Cabinet Secretary Charles Keter.

Oil Slump Side-steps Kenya As It Anticipates To Turn On The Taps

Kenya’s oil is said to be commercially viable even at the dismal $30 per barrel. The country has so far discovered 1 billion barrels of oil, although its extraction might take years.

Tullow oil, one of the main exploration companies in Kenya which discovered 600 million barrels in the South Lokichar basin in 2012 says that oil can be produced in Kenya for around $25 per barrel, which would make it one of the cheapest places in the world for producers.

Iran is Eyeing Africa To Expand Oil, Refined Products Exports

Iranian officials announced on Tuesday 16^th February 2016 that the first exports of gas oil products (fuel oil distilled from petroleum) are headed to African countries.

Iran is ardent to raise its status as a major exporter of gasoline, kerosene, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), jet fuel and mazut in the Middle East.

Top oil producers 'agree on oil output freeze', Iran still an obstacle.

Top oil exporters, Russia and Saudi Arabia agreed on Tuesday to freeze output levels to tackle the growing oversupply of crude oil so as to stabilise the oil price.  The deal however is dependent on other producers joining.

The announcement was made following a meeting of oil ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Venezuela and Qatar in Doha, with meetings with Middle East oil powerhouses Iran and Iraq said to be imminent. The outcome of today’s meeting with Iran and Iraq is being awaited with bated breath as more talks are to take place in Tehran today, however fears of Iran ramping up production are high.

Petroleum Pump prices in Major towns in Kenya from 15th February2016 - 14th March 2016

Fuel pump prices have reduced further to reflect the current crude oil market prices. This is also after the world bank raised concerns over the pump prices in Kenya which they deemed did not reflect the current market climate. Major economies have reduced their gasoline and diesel prices to reflect the plummeting crude oil prices. This raises the question how will Kenya deal with the situation when it becomes and oil producer. Most oil producing countries enjoy heavily subsidised oil prices at the pump. 

Crude oil grades from different parts of the world

There are several crude oil grades around the world. They are usually classified according to the geographical region from where they are extracted.  Below is a partial list of the world’s crude oil.

1	Abu Bukhoosh	51	Djeno	101	Liverpool Bay	151	Sirri
2	Al Shaheen	52	Doba Blend	102	MacCulloch	152	Sirtica
3	Alaska North Slope	53	Draugen	103	Mandji	153	Sleipner Condensate
4	Alba	54	Dubai	104	Maureen	154	Snorre
5	Algerian Condensate	55	Dukhan	105	Marib	155	Souedieh

Classification of oil

Petroleum classification is dependent on the intrinsic properties.  There are various categories which are related to the density (referred to as API° gravity), sulphur content, extraction process and geographical location.

The most common classification is

1.      Heavy oil

2.      Light oil

3.      Sour

4.      Sweet

Fulbright Scholarships 2016 now open

The Fulbright Foreign Student Program is sponsored by the USA Government, aimed at graduate students, young professionals, and artists from abroad to research and study in the United States for one year or longer at U.S. universities or other appropriate institutions.  The scholarship is targeted at international students from155 countries. The scholarship is administered and processed by binational Fulbright Commissions/Foundations or U.S. Embassies.

Petroleum geochemistry

Source: Weatherford

This is a branch of geology that is important in the exploration phase of oil. Nearly all explorations employ geochemical surveys. Geochemists study the surface geochemistry which is usually closely similar in the subsurface properties.

Geochemical surveys also include studying the source rocks to determine, where they form, the type of organic matter, thermal maturity as well as the geochemical processes involved in the transformation of the organic matter i.e biodegradation and thermal cracking.

How is oil located?

Geologists are key to helping find oil. They are tasked with looking and finding the right conditions for an oil trap. An oil trap constitutes of 5 components.

1.      Source rock

2.      Cap rock

3.      Reservoir rock

Africa Oil - Maersk Oil farmout deal completed

Africa Oil has completed its farm out deal to Maersk oil and gas where it is reported to have received a total of $427 million which is accounted for as follows.

•  $344million as reimbursement of past costs incurred by Africa Oil prior to the agreed March 31, 2015 effective date of the farmout.

• US$83 million representing Maersk’s share of costs incurred between the effective date and December 31, 2015

•   a carry reimbursement of US$15MM of exploration expenditures. 

Gas production to start in mid February 2016 at Kiliwani North, Tanzania

Aminex shareholders have been informed that the Tanzanian Petroleum Development Corporation has advised Kiliwani North-1 well could start production in mid-February 2016. The well is currently undergoing final well integrity testing prior to first production. The development comes after the Gas Sales Agreement (GSA) signing that happened in January, where the gas price was agreed at $3.00 per mmBTU, which approximates to $3.07 per mcf, for which the gas price is not linked to any commodity price and hence is not affected by the current commodity market. The payment will be made in USD for all produced gas including commissioning and testing gas.

Tanzania could supply the UK with gas for the next 20 years

The 55 trillion (tcf) gas resources so far discovered in Tanzania can meet the current demand of gas for the whole of the UK between now and around 2040, The Guardian has reliably learnt. The gas resource is 22 times the gas British users consume annually. The annual British consumption lies at 2.5 tcf meaning that Tanzania has capacity to supply the UK with gas for over 20 years.