In The Spotlight
Energy technology company, Baker Hughes, has been selected by ANOH Gas Processing Company (AGPC) for comprehensive lifecycle services, including parts, repair services and engineering advisory
The company will also be delivering iCenter digital services for turbomachinery equipment at the greenfield ANOH Gas Processing Plant in Nigeria.
The agreement secures Baker Hughes’ role as a lifecycle solutions provider for one of the nation’s critical onshore gas projects. Baker Hughes services for the ANOH Gas Processing Plant goes back to 2019, when the company supplied an integrated power island solution for the facility, inclusive of two NovaLT 16 gas turbines – the first supplied in Sub-Saharan Africa – along with compressors and gears.
The service agreement covers essential maintenance and repairs for the plant’s critical equipment, including two NovaLT™16 gas turbines. In addition to providing local engineering support, Baker Hughes will deploy iCenter™ digital services, powered by Cordant™, for remote monitoring and diagnostics to enhance equipment reliability, availability and optimized operations.
“It is a pleasure to collaborate with a globally trusted energy technology leader like Baker Hughes on this critical project,” said James Makinde, Managing Director at ANOH Gas Processing Company. “The reliable performance of critical turbomachinery equipment is essential to the successful operation of the ANOH Plant and to delivering on Nigeria’s domestic energy supply goals.”
“This long-term agreement is a testament to our successful collaboration with ANOH Gas Processing Company and the trust placed in our lifecycle service capabilities,” said Baker Hughes Chief Growth & Experience Officer and interim Executive Vice President of Industrial & Energy Technology Maria Claudia Borras. “We are leveraging our regional expertise and pairing it with our advanced digital technologies and services, supporting the delivery of reliable, efficient and affordable power solutions and helping Nigeria realize its goal to move to lower-carbon fuel sources.”
MOL Group has signed a production sharing agreement with its partners, Repsol and Türkiye Petrolleri A. O. (TPAO) for an offshore exploration area in the Mediterranean Sea, after being granted an exploration licence by LIbya's NOC
The project will contribute to the revitalization of Libya’s oil and gas industry and marks a strategic milestone for Central Eastern Europe’s energy security, according to MOL.
The signing of the production sharing agreement represents a significant step in advancing exploration activities in Libya. MOL Group entered the country earlier this year through a successful bid with its JV partners for an offshore exploration licence in Libya’s first bidding round for 18 years, which attracted more than 40 bids, signalling growing international interest in Libya’s largely untapped hydrocarbon potential. Five blocks were awarded, with MOL (20%) together with Repsol (40% as operator) and TPAO (40%), being awarded the O7 offshore block.
The O7 block covers more than 10,300 km² in water depths exceeding 1,500 meters, located approximately 140 kilometres northwest of Benghazi. Its deepwater setting aligns with the consortium’s extensive offshore experience.
Activities in Block O7 will include the acquisition of 1,500 km 2D and 2,300 km² 3D seismic data and the drilling of one exploration well.
“We are excited that our joint project with Repsol and TPAO has entered a new phase with the signing of a production sharing agreement. This also means a new milestone in the revitalisation of Libya’s oil and gas industry and we are honoured to be part of it. Libya holds strategic importance for Europe and offers an exceptional offshore exploration opportunity in North Africa. We are committed to contributing our expertise to Libya’s economy, while also strengthening the energy security of Central Eastern Europe through a new source.“ said Zsombor Marton, executive vice president of MOL Group Exploration and Production.
The announcement follows the signing of a new strategic partnership between MOL Group and Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) in January 2026 which involves exchanging expertise, deepening technological cooperation, and identifying new business opportunities that strengthen both organisations' international presence and future growth. Areas of potential co-operation included hydrocarbon exploration and production, technological and field development innovations, oilfield services opportunities in Libya, crude supply and trading activities.
MOL is looking to expand its international portfolio to maintain its strategy target of at least 90,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day production level over the next five years.
Libya’s oil production currently stands at around 1.4mn bpd. NOC aims to produce 1.6mn bpd by the end of 2026, rising to 2mn bpd in the medium term, and sees the participation of international companies as crucial to achieving its growth plans. Libya’s NOC has also signed production sharing agreements recently with Spain’s Repsol, in partnership with the Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO); and Eni, in partnership with QatarEnergy.
With a drilling programme ongoing offshore Gabon, VAALCO Energy has reported impressive initial well results on the Ebouri-5H well and has mobilised a rig to the SEENT platform
Successfully drilled, completed and placed on production the Ebouri-5H development well at the top of the structure with a lateral of 300 meters of net pay in high-quality Gamba sands. Tyhe company read excellent initial flow rate, which shot past 8,000 gross barrels of oil per day, 4,700 bopd net to Vaalco, with very low water cut.
The company aimed directional drilling of the slant well, lying adjacent to GMF-1X discovery well so that gas and condensate resources in the Dentale D15 reservoir from the crest of the North Tchibala structure can be accessed for operational use.
Natural gas obtained in this manner can be leveraged directly, significantly reducing the costs of higher priced diesel that is currently transported to the field by vessel.
In line with its 2026 onshore drilling schedule in Egypt, the company has completed drilling of the first well in the region. The HE-9 development well that has encountered 26 meters of net pay in the Asl B reservoir is now placed on production. The well has achieved excellent initial flow rate of 529 gross BOPD, above Vaalco’s predrill expectations.
George Maxwell, Vaalco’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, “We are very pleased with the continued positive results from our Gabon drilling campaign. The Ebouri-5H development well encountered 300 meters of net pay in high-quality Gamba sands in a crestal position within the Ebouri field. The well was brought online with initial rates exceeding 8,000 gross BOPD, or 4,700 net BOPD. We have mobilized the rig to the SEENT platform where we plan to drill two development wells. Our goal is to continue to successfully add production and reserves with the remainder of our Gabon drilling campaign. In Egypt, given the success of the 2025 drilling campaign, including captured efficiencies and accelerated technical subsurface evaluation, the Company is drilling additional wells in 2026. We completed and placed on production the HE-9 development well in early June, the first well in our 2026 drilling program, and are very pleased with the strong IP rates. With the Baobab field successfully restarted and the continued successes in the Gabon and Egypt drilling campaigns, we have many positive achievements year to date, and we believe that the remainder of 2026 will be profitable. We remain focused on execution and driving meaningful growth through our organic capital programs that we believe will translate into value for our shareholders in 2026 and beyond.”
Tower Resources has received a formal letter of approval from the Namibian Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy (MIME) for the farm-out of the PEL96 license, offshore Namibia, to Prime Global Energies Limited (Prime)
This means the only outstanding condition precedent under the PEL96 farm-out contract that was announced last January is now finalised. The Company will now send out a notice of completion to Prime, and a draft deed of assignment, novation and amendment to MIME and Tower's partners, with completion expected to follow shortly.
The Company is still awaiting approval for the proposed purchase by its wholly owned subsidiary Tower Resources (Namibia) Limited (TRNL) of an additional 5% interest in the PEL96 license from its local partner, ZM Fourteen Investment (Pty) Ltd ("ZM") (together, the "Parties"), announced on 7 March 2025. As a result of the delay, the Parties are no longer bound to complete the acquisition of this interest, but are continuing to discuss its execution.
Tower Resources Chairman & CEO, Jeremy Asher, said, "We are very pleased to have received this letter of approval, and would like to thank the relevant personnel at MIME, the Upstream Petroleum Unit and NAMCOR for their diligent review and continued engagement throughout this process. We would also like to welcome Prime, who we view as a highly favourable partner for PEL96, with substantial technical and financial resources and a track record of operational success. We look forward to working alongside them and our other stakeholders to progress with the work programme offshore Namibia."
The fast-track CDI25 seismic reimaging project covers an area of 6,555 sq km. (Image source: Viridien)
Viridien has started a seismic reimaging project in the Tano Basin, Ivory Coast, called CDI25, which explorers can refer to as a drill-ready multi-client dataset to unlock opportunities along the West African Atlantic margin
Viridien has been active in the Ivory Coast since the last four years, and CDI25 comes as an upgrade to this longstanding subsurface reimaging programme. With the deployment of digital processing and imaging workflows, including Ghost Wavefield Elimination, advanced de-multiple, and Time-Lag Full-Waveform Inversion will help deliver high bandwidth, enhanced deep imaging and sharp structural and stratigraphic details.
Covering an area of 6,555 sq km, the fast-track CDI25 results are expected by Q4 2026, before final deliverables by Q2 2027. Once out in the market, explorers will be able to access a seamless, basin-scale 3D seismic volume across 16,000 sq km of the Tano Basin.
With the recent discovery in the Calao Channel complex, explorers can use the dataset for invaluable subsurface insights to increase their chances of success in the region. To top it off, it can also be used to gain regional context into the adjacent acreage of the Baleine field for further opportunities such as lead maturation, de-risking, and further exploration delineation.
Dechun Lin, head of Earth Data, Viridien, said, “The recent Murene South and Baleine field discoveries highlight the growing importance of Tano Basin and the industry value of our multi-year reimaging programme. Viridien is proud to support exploration offshore Ivory Coast with cutting-edge data that is generating new insights to reveal further opportunities in this prolific basin.”
Viridien has launched Evergreen Data Solution, a scalable, AI-powered approach to subsurface data transformation that enables asset teams to access, trust, and use complex data faster, reducing cycle times and improving decision-making for more-informed exploration and development
Building on Viridien’s established digital transformation technology and expertise, the new solution directly addresses the modern challenges of ever-growing, fragmented subsurface data by making it readily available, validated, and completely analytics-ready.
Orchestrated data transformation
Evergreen Data Solution extends far beyond traditional data management, uniquely combining Viridien’s deep geoscience expertise with advanced AI technologies. It works to continuously improve how data is classified, curated, contextualised, and validated across the board.
The solution automatically ingests, standardises, and delivers data across files, systems of record, and applications. By successfully handling unstructured, semi-structured, and structured formats, it creates a unified, interpretation- and 'AI-ready' data foundation.
This system replaces episodic, manual preparation with a fully orchestrated transformation engine that keeps subsurface data usable, consistent, and trusted as it evolves, operating seamlessly across on-premise, cloud, and hybrid environments.
Peter Whiting, executive vice president, geoscience, Viridien, said, "Viridien’s Evergreen Data Solution combines AI, data science and domain expertise to form a live, continuously updated data foundation of all available geoscience and seismic data. It interacts with data of all types and the third-party applications commonly used by our clients. The data foundation provides the full set of decision-quality data that rapidly improves exploration and production outcomes and enables further AI-based advanced analytics. Viridien is the key strategic partner for accelerating the success of our clients."
Seamless access and trust
Evergreen Data Solution orchestrates the transformation of fragmented subsurface data into a unified, continuously improving, 'AI-ready' foundation, enabling seamless access and trusted use across diverse systems and environments. Viridien ensures energy sector asset teams can confidently accelerate their digital transformation journeys and optimise subsurface outcomes by bridging the gap between raw data and actionable insights.
In a major step towards the development of its first project in Egypt, Arcius, in collaboration with the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company, has reached final investment decision (FID) on the Harmattan gas field in the El Burg Offshore concession area
Approximately half a billion dollars investment by the bp and XRG venture, the project aims to boost natural gas production.
This comes following Arcius’ acquisition of the El Burg Offshore concession area in February 2026. The project's execution phase will be led by ENPPI delivering engineering, procurement, construction and installation (EPCI) contract for Pharaonic Petroleum Company on behalf of El Burg Offshore Petroleum Company. Petroleum Marine Services and Petrojet will be providing services in the capacity of subcontractors.
Speaking on the FID and acknowledging the project's purpose to primarily meet domestic market needs, the chief executive officer of Arcius, Naser Al Yafei, said, "The Final Investment Decision to develop the Harmattan field marks an important milestone in advancing one of our first projects in Egypt toward production. It reflects our confidence in the potential of Egypt’s energy sector and our commitment to close cooperation with the Egyptian government, EGAS, and our execution partners to strengthen Egypt’s natural gas supply, support energy security, and reinforce Egypt’s position as a regional energy hub in the Eastern Mediterranean.”
The FID was announced during the EGYPES 2026 with the participation of EGAS, Arcius as the Operator of El Burg Offshore Concession, PhPC, ENPPI, and in the presence of Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources.
In line with Nigeria's strategy to expand reach in export market, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited has globally released its new crude grade – Cawthorne
With an API gravity of 36.4 that denotes the light and sweet kind, the Cawthorne crude rules global market demand because of its unmatched petrol and diesel yields. Comparable to Bonny Light, Cawthorne crude blend is the latest from Nigeria’s basket of crude grades, building on recent additions such as Nembe and Utapate.
The consistent market launches come from optimised production, helping Nigeria to solidify its base in the export market with diverse offerings. The Cawthorne Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) vessel, which is strategically positioned offshore Bonny, Rivers State for enhanced energy security and operational efficiency in easy crude evacuation from OML18, comprised the maiden 950,000 barrels cargo for export. Loaded on an MT Eburones vessel, it headed to the Netherlands, and unto the global market.
As Nigeria aims to attain crude production of three million barrels per day and gas output to 12 billion cubic feet per day by 2030, the international launch of Cawthorne will unlock value from its asset base and deepen market competitiveness.
“This milestone reflects the direction we have set for NNPC Limited—one anchored on execution, partnership, and value creation. We are moving decisively from resource potential to resource monetisation, ensuring that every asset delivers measurable commercial outcomes.
"The successful export of the Cawthorne crude grade is not an isolated achievement; it is part of a broader, deliberate strategy to grow production, deepen market relevance, and strengthen Nigeria’s position as a reliable global energy supplier. We remain firmly focused on delivering sustainable growth in line with national objectives and global market expectations,” said Bashir Bayo Ojulari, Group Chief Executive Officer of NNPC Ltd, as he acknowledged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s leadership and OML 18 partners' strong collaboration in achieving the milestone.
Technological innovation, strategic partnerships, and operational discipline will remain central to NNPC Limited's vision as the organisation works towards value creation from Nigeria's vast hydrocarbons resources.
Oil Review Africa catches up with Christopher Hudson, President of dmg events, ahead of ADIPEC 2025
Excerpts from an interview:
Energy across Africa, as elsewhere in the world, is seeing major shifts and advancements. How does ADIPEC 2025 reflect this changing industry landscape and help meet the needs?
Energy is one of the most dynamic and rapidly evolving sectors. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global energy demand rose by 2.2% last year, outpacing the average annual increase of 1.3% recorded over the last decade. At the same time, the global population is projected to reach 9.8 billion by 2050, with over 750 million people still lacking access to electricity, and more than 2.1 billion people remain without access to clean cooking. Rising urbanisation and living standards are reshaping energy demand, with air conditioning alone expected to be one of the largest contributors to electricity demand growth in the coming decades. This reveals the sector’s increasing need to not only produce more energy but to produce it in a way that is equitable and sustainable.
In this context, ADIPEC 2025 is being held under the theme of ‘Energy. Intelligence. Impact’. It reflects a simple but powerful truth: meeting the world’s growing need for secure, affordable and sustainable energy will depend on how intelligently we harness every resource – human, technological and natural – to deliver meaningful results for economies and communities alike.
At its core, the theme recognises that intelligence – both human and artificial – is transforming the way energy is produced, managed, and consumed. From AI-driven optimisation and digital integration to advances in hydrogen, LNG, and decarbonisation, intelligent innovation is reshaping the global energy landscape. ADIPEC serves as the meeting point for these forces, where ideas translate into action and impact can be measured in investment, policy, and progress.
AI is a major topic of discussion in the context of energy, due to its high demand. How is ADIPEC responding to the challenges and opportunities of the AI-energy nexus?
Artificial intelligence is reshaping both global energy demand and the industry’s ability to respond. Data centres already consume around 1.5% of global electricity, and with AI workloads, that demand could more than double by 2030, rising from 415 TWh to 945 TWh. A single advanced AI model can require as much electricity to train as 100 households use in a year, while an AI query may consume 10 times more energy than a standard search.
This convergence is both a challenge and an opportunity. AI requires enormous energy, but it can also optimise grids, cut waste, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate decarbonisation. At ADIPEC 2025, we have expanded our AI Zone into five experiential areas showcasing how AI is transforming systems, people, and infrastructure. Alongside this, more than 80 conference sessions are dedicated to the AI–energy nexus, from predictive analytics to governance frameworks.
For Africa, this is particularly significant. Many countries are rapidly digitalising while also expanding power systems. The ability of AI to enhance reliability and reduce costs could be transformative for energy access and economic growth.
How is the diversity of the African continent and its vast energy sector reflected across ADIPEC 2025’s programme?
Africa is a core part of ADIPEC’s community. This year, we are proud to welcome a strong delegation of African ministers and leaders, including those from Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Gambia, Equatorial Guinea, and Egypt. Their participation enriches ADIPEC’s Strategic Conference and exhibitions, ensuring Africa’s perspectives are reflected in discussions on natural gas, hydrogen, downstream, and low-carbon solutions.
dmg events is also the largest organiser of energy and infrastructure events across Africa, with long-standing operations in Nigeria, Mozambique, Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania, South Africa, Egypt and Morocco. This presence gives us a unique vantage point to bridge African priorities with global dialogue.
Africa holds some of the world’s largest reserves of natural gas, oil, and minerals, as well as enormous potential in renewables. ADIPEC is committed to supporting this potential by convening African voices alongside global leaders, unlocking partnerships that can expand access, accelerate industrialisation, and strengthen Africa’s contribution to global energy progress.
Some of ADIPEC 2025’s notable African speakers include: Honourable J. Opiyo Wandayi, Cabinet Secretary for Energy and Petroleum, Kenya; Honourable Sen. Dr. Heineken Lokpobiri, Minister for State (Oil), Petroleum Resources, Nigeria; Rt. Honourable Ekperikpe Ekpo, Minister for State (Gas) Petroleum Resources, Nigeria; Honourable Chief Adebayo Adelabu, Minister of Power, Nigeria; Honourable Julius D. Mattai, Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Republic of Sierra Leone; Honourable Ruth Nankabirwa Ssentamu, Minister of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda; His Excellency Karim Badawi, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Arab Republic of Egypt; His Excellency Antonio Oburu Ondo, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, Equatorial Guinea, Honorable Julius D. Mattai, Minister of Mines and Mineral Resources, Republic of Sierra Leonne; Honourable July Moyo, Minister of Energy and Power Development, Zimbabwe; His Excellency Nani Juwara, Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Gambia; Honourable Cheikh Niane, Deputy Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Senegal, and Mathias Katamba, board chairman, Uganda National Oil Company.
