Highly dependent on oil revenues
Algeria, with a current population of 36 million, has been an oil producing country since 1958. This was made possible by two commercial discoveries in 1956, Edjelleh and Hassi Messaoud,…
Africa
New plays from old: Frontier exploration at the Western Edge of Gabon’s Salt Basin
Gabon, world-class frontier exploration targets Seriously underexplored, the potential for deepwater Gabon to provide a spectacular future for sub-salt discoveries is very promising. Although Gabon’s southern salt basin extends over an…
Unlocking the exploration potential of the Seychelles
Project map showing Seychelles structural elements. Seychelles: New insights revealed The Seychelles Exclusive Economic Zone covers over 1.3 million km2 and contains more than 100 islands, the largest composed of…
Production starts in Block 31
Production began at the end of January from the BP-operated Block 31 in Angola, one of the largest subsea developments in the world. The development will produce from four oil…
First success for Sonatrach in Libya – Exploration update
LIBYA: First Success for Sonatrach Sonatrach’s first well on what is highly prospective acreage has been completed as an oil and gas discovery. Wildcat A1-96/1 is in Area 96 in…
Harper Basin Exposé
The undrilled Harper Basin lies offshore Liberia between the Liberian-Sierra Leone Basin to the north, and the Ivorian/Tano Basin to the south-east. It covers approximately 20,000 km2, extending from shelf…
Pipeline attacks in Nigeria
Attacks on pipelines have become commonplace in the oil-rich Niger Delta, and are symptomatic of the unrest in that volatile province. Previously the attacks were often the work of militants,…
Kenya: Discovery in Block 13T
Only the second prospect to be tested in the onshore north-west Kenyan Lokichar Trough as part of Tullow Oil’s multi-well drilling campaign in Kenya and Ethiopia, the Twiga South-1 wildcat…
A Shadow of its Former Self
Nigeria’s Petroleum Industry Bill: six years of stop-go progress on oil industry reform has resulted in a bill that falls far short of its original transparency and revenue-generation goals With…
Egypt Déjà Vu
After weeks of grassroots campaigns, mass protests in Egypt erupted in July, culminating in the overthrow of President Morsi in what was effectively a military coup. Two and a half…
Offshore Côte d’Ivoire: a modern exploration frontier
Section detail showing some of the key features identified in the area. Location map showing the offshore Côte d’Ivoire region, PGS 2D data coverage in yellow and approximate loca- tion…
Africa and New Technologies
Many of the most exciting discoveries in the last decade have been in Africa – and technological developments have been key to a good number of them. Back at the…