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Algeria forbids Spain from reselling its gas to Morocco

Published

2 years ago

April 28, 2022

Algeria has prohibited Spain from reselling its gas to neighbours Morocco and has threatened to terminate the gas supply contract it entered with the European country after Madrid announced plans to ship gas to Morocco, but stressed that none of that gas would be of Algerian origin, which angered the Algerian government.

A secret report revealed that Morocco wants to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Spain by reversing the flow of the pipeline while it moves to develop its own longer-term LNG import terminals.

The Algerian warning came on Wednesday after it emerged that Madrid was planning to resell gas gotten from Algeria to other countries, especially those seen as enemy countries.

Before the warning, Algeria had previously said it will stick to its contract with Spain despite withdrawing its ambassador over a dispute between the two countries relating to the Moroccan-controlled territory of Western Sahara.

Since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia on February 24 and the crisis generated by the conflict, African gas supplies to Europe have grown increasingly important and with no end in sight as the crisis has cast doubt on Russian energy exports, Algeria had entered deals to raise its gas supply to some European countries including Spain and Italy.

Algeria had also decided last year not to extend a deal to export gas through a pipeline running through Morocco to Spain that made up nearly all Morocco’s gas supply and is supplying Spain through a direct subsea pipeline and by vessel.

However, Spain’s energy ministry said that in no case would gas acquired by Morocco come from Algeria and that it had discussed the plan with Algiers in recent months.

“Morocco will be able to purchase LNG on the international markets, unload it at a regasification plant on the Spanish mainland and use the Maghreb gas pipeline to bring it to its territory,” the ministry said on Wednesday.

Related Topics:Algeria Featured gas Morocco Spain

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3 years after, Nigeria’s Belemaoil restarts Oil Lease 55

Published

2 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Following a three-year hiatus due to theft-related damage to the plant, Nigerian independent producer, Belemaoil Producing, has reopened operations at its oil block on Oil Mining Lease 55, the company announced on Monday.

In February 2015, Belemaoil purchased OML 55 from Chevron Corp. OML 55 is situated in a marsh to shallow water area, approximately 40 kilometres west of the Bonny oil export facility.

According to a statement by a Belemaoil representative, widespread oil theft from OML 55’s delivery line to the Bonny terminal forced the closure of the facility in 2021.

The block has five oilfields, which provide more than 70 million standard cubic feet of petrol per day and around 14,000 barrels per day, according to the business.

An official stated that the first floating oil storage vessel arrived at OML 55 on October 6th, signalling “a major milestone in the company’s efforts to restart production”.

Nigeria, the largest oil producer in Africa, is attempting to increase its crude production, which has decreased recently as a result of widespread theft and sabotage, which drove oil majors to abandon onshore drilling in favour of deepwater production.

VenturesNow

Kenya permits JPMorgan Chase to open representative office

Published

3 hours ago

October 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The central bank of Kenya announced on Monday that JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) had been permitted to create a new tab and open a representative office in the East African nation.

According to a statement from the Central Bank of Kenya, representative offices of foreign banks in Kenya act as hubs for marketing and communication for their parent banks and affiliates.

The announcement further stated that the JPMorgan Chase representative office will help to diversify Kenya’s banking industry and encourage trade and investment.

In an effort by the largest United States lender to grow on the continent, Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is scheduled to visit Africa in mid-October, according to a report published by Reuters last month, which cited four people with knowledge of the situation.

Within the next three years, the bank intends to renovate 1,700 existing branches and open 500 new ones. According to J.P. Morgan’s most recent financial report, as of the end of the second quarter of 2024, the bank had 4,884 branches.