The weekly market report is provided by Gladius Commodities of Lagos, Nigeria.
Download the full report here.
CAMEROON
Oil and gas company New Age, the operator of the Etinde license offshore Cameroon, has signed a definitive conditional agreement to transfer its participating interests in the Etinde permit as well as operatorship of the Etinde joint venture (JV) to Perenco, according to Bowleven, a partner in the license.
Bowleven had been informed by New Age of the planned transfer, and that the deal with Perenco was subject to several approvals including the customary regulatory approvals by the Cameroon government and of the Etinde JV partners. Under the terms of the joint operating agreement, both Lukoil and Bowleven have a 30-day right of pre-emption over New Age’s interest. Notwithstanding the transaction, Bowleven said it will continue to be entitled to a Final Investment Decision (FID) payment of $25 million from its Etinde JV partners following the completion of the transaction, including Perenco. The Etinde Permit (former Block 7) lies in shallow water in the Rio del Rey Basin, offshore Cameroon, and comprises four proven reservoir intervals within the Pliocene and Miocene formations. New Age is the operator and owns a 37.5% stake, Lukoil owns 37.5% and Bowleven 25%.
NIGERIA
The Group Managing Director (GMD) of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Alhaji Mele Kyari, released information on the distribution of 966.58 million liters of Premium Motor Spirits (PMS) to Nigerians within two weeks, in line with the corporation’s Transparency and Accountability agenda. Lagos, Kano and Niger States got the highest allocation of PMS distributed.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, H.E. Chief Timipre Sylva, emphasized that Nigeria needs affordable, reliable and sustainable energy resources to eliminate widespread energy poverty and drive economic growth. H.E. Chief Sylva disclosed this at the Nigeria-Africa Natural Resources and Energy Investment Summit. The Minister said energy poverty is still prevalent, especially in Africa, millions of people do not have access to electricity or clean cooking fuels. H.E. Chief Sylva also stated that only 48% of the sub-Saharan African population have access to electricity and only 18% have access to clean cooking fuels, compared with a global average of 90% and 70%, respectively.
GLOBAL
On Thursday June 10, oil prices dipped but still hovered near three-month highs after parts of Shanghai imposed new COVID-19 lockdown measures, as strong gains in refined products contributed to an ongoing bullish backdrop for crude oil. The U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 60 cents, or 0.5%, to $121.51 a barrel, while the Brent futures settled down 51 cents at $123.07 a barrel, a 0.4% decline. The U.S. Energy Information Administration weekly report showed crude oil inventories build of 2.025 million barrels for the week ending June 3, while U.S. gasoline stockpiles dropped by 812,000 barrels.
Oil prices have been rallying steadily over the last two months, led by big increases in prices of refined products due to tight refining supply and surging demand. Worldwide, refiners have shut facilities, and capacity is tight as well due to reduced activity in Russia, the world’s largest exporter of crude and fuel, following its invasion of Ukraine. Peak summer gasoline demand in the U.S. continues to boost crude prices. The U.S. and other nations have engaged in a series of strategic reserve releases, but it has had a limited effect on global crude production.