Congo Council of Ministers approve hydrocarbons laws. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Congo's national oil company, Societe Nationale des Petroles du Congo (SNPC), gains a solid ground as two significant laws supporting the country's hydrocarbons industry receive approval of the Council of Ministers 

The first law now recognises SNPC as the owner of the new Likouala II exploration permit, following Perenco and Congorep's (a joint venture between Perenco and SNPC) handover of shares. With the new structure, Perenco's shares stand at 64.5%, Congorep at 20.5%, and SNPC at 15%.

The second law allows the Ikalou II permit that comes from the Ikalou Sud concession. With this permit that is valid for 20 years, SNPC retains a 15% stake following Perenco's 85%. 

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Petrobras had previously operated the Agbami Field in Nigeria before dropping out. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Brazil's state oil company, Petrobras, has expressed interests to invest in Nigeria's frontier deepwater acreage

This comes ahead of the 2025 Nigeria-Brazil Strategic Dialogue Mechanism as a major step towards bilateral cooperation that saw the revival of the company's interest in the region after previously having left the Agbami Field where it was operating

The positive dialouge was an outcome of the interministerial review meeting chaired by Nigeria's Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, to coordinate the country's preparations for the second session of the SDM scheduled for June.

"The presence of six ministers and the Solicitor-General of the federation in this review meeting ahead of the second session of the Nigeria-Brazil Strategic Dialogue Mechanism shows the importance we have attached to our relationship with Brazil.

"We have not maximally capitalised on the fraternity between us and Brazil, but it is better late than never. The upcoming SDM presents an opportunity to execute sector-specific Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and unlock investment flows," said Shettima. 

Nigeria is also keen on leveraging Brazil's global reach as the country will also be hosting this year's high-end summits such as BRICS, G20 and COP30.

Earlier, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggar, confirmed ongoing engagements with Petrobras, saying, "Apart from Ethanol, which they are hoping to engage the NNPCL for blending, Petrobras is also being actively engaged, and we expect they will form part of the delegation to Nigeria. Petrobras is no longer active in Nigeria, but they are very keen on coming back to Nigeria. They said they want frontier acreage in deep waters."

The rebranding follows the Prime consolidation. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Africa Oil Corp has launched its new brand identity with a change of name to Meren Energy Inc

This follows the completion of the Prime consolidation, doubling reserves and production in high quality offshore assets that benefit from low lifting costs, premium Brent pricing and a favourable fiscal regime.

The Company’s common shares will trade under the new symbol ‘MER’ on the TSX and Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. 

Commenting on the launch of Meren, president and chief executive officer, Roger Tucker, said, “The recent completion of the Prime consolidation felt like the natural catalyst to rebrand the Company given the transformational impact of that transaction. Over the last couple of years, we have worked diligently to enhance our investment proposition by simplifying the structure of the business and gaining more direct interests in our large-scale and high-netback assets in deepwater Nigeria. The business model has also evolved considerably over the past few years; moving away from being exploration led to being a full-cycle E&P underpinned by strong cash flow generation that supports our commitment to meaningful shareholder returns.”

The name Meren is derived from an old nautical term representing the mooring of a vessel as it docks. Inspired by the maritime legends that set sail in pursuit of new worlds, the name mirrors the Company’s stability anchored by a diverse portfolio, strong cash flow profile and proven ability to work side by side with industry leaders on world-class assets.

Meren will be working to drive long-term value through its existing portfolio of world-class assets. It will be considering strategic acquisition of production assets within target markets.

The new concession agreement comes with improved commercial terms. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has approved the consolidation of eight of Capricorn's existing Egyptian concession agreements into a new, single integrated concession agreement 

The company jointly holds a 50% participating interest with the concessions operator, Cheiron Oil and Gas Limited. The integrated concession agreement is subject to Egyptian Parliamentary ratification which is expected to take place in 2025.

The new concession agreement comes with improved commercial terms and a refreshed primary development term to support increased investment, for the benefit of all parties.

The Badr El Din (BED), Obaiyed, North Alam El Shawish, North Matruh, Sitra, BED 3, and BED 2 and BED 17 development concessions, along with the North Um Baraka exploration concession, will now be combined into a single integrated concession. It will have a 20-year scope through an initial 10-year term, plus two five-year extensions for the development areas.

The enhanced fiscal terms include profit share of 27-29%, a merged single cost pool, 40% cost recovery over four years, and excess cost recovery of 20%.

An improved gas price of US$4.25/mmbtu for incremental gas produced from existing fields and new discoveries agreed to promote increased gas production.

Four additional blocks will be incorporated into the BED 17 development area.

The direct award of two open exploration areas adjacent to existing acreage will be added to the integrated concession which will require the drilling of 11 gross exploration wells.

Randy Neely, chief executive, Capricorn Energy PLC said, “This agreement marks a key milestone in unlocking further value in our Egyptian Western Desert asset base. The three partners: EGPC, Cheiron and Capricorn have put in significant time and effort to construct a business case that allows all parties to benefit. With the improved terms and consolidation of the development leases, the joint venture partners will be able to justify increased investment to unlock significant contingent resources, leading to increased production and reserves for the benefit of all stakeholders. The development potential of these assets is fully capable of being funded by cashflows generated in Egypt.

With the successful outcome of this milestone in sight, we, along with our partners, will now begin the work to achieve a similar outcome for the Alam El Shawish West (AESW) joint venture.

We believe this agreement is a very important step in restoring Capricorn as a premier small-cap energy company. In addition to our achievements in Egypt, we continue to actively evaluate material opportunities in the UK North Sea. Combined, these initiatives will make Capricorn significantly more sustainable as a business and attractive as an energy investment.”