Raymond Nuworkpor

#AfricanEnergyUpdate | Zimbabwe’s Musuma Well Tests a 1.2 Tcf Target Beyond Mukuyu as SLB Joins the Campaign @energy_invictus has awarded SLB a well-services package for Musuma-1, with wellpad and access-road work advancing and Exalo preparing Rig 202 for a planned November 2026 spud after the rig was secured in August. Musuma is Invictus’s first high-impact test outside the Mukuyu gas-condensate area: a roughly 1,500-metre vertical well in the shallower Dande Formation targeting 1.2 trillion cubic feet of gas and 73 million barrels of condensate on a gross mean unrisked prospective-resource basis. Those volumes attach to an undiscovered accumulation, not reserves. The company’s technical assessment puts geological chance of success at 18% before an uplift for interpreted direct hydrocarbon indicators, and 38% after, citing amplitude responses and a possible flat spot. That is still a prospect, not a trap proven. Mukuyu-2 found good-quality Dande sands and residual staining, evidence of migration rather than a separate eastern accumulation. Mukuyu-1 showed a working system in 2022; Mukuyu-2 delivered gas-condensate in 2023, including deeper Upper and Lower Angwa. Musuma asks whether Cabora Bassa can hold another accumulation away from Mukuyu and in a different play. The eastern inventory previously listed eight prospects at 2.9 Tcf and 184 million barrels of condensate, unrisked gross mean, with the closest Dande read-through at Mopane and Muroro. A discovery would lift that case; a dry hole would narrow it without erasing Mukuyu. petropulseonline.com/news/zi…

#AfricanEnergyUpdate | McDermott Lands $500–750M Cyprus Gas Deal and Deepens LNG and Nuclear Bets McDermott has won a $500 million–$750 million subsea EPCI contract from @eni Cyprus for the Cronos field, its first subsea award with Eni and a job it classifies as substantial. Work covers project management, engineering, procurement and installation from Houston, Perth, London and Kuala Lumpur, backed by the deepwater construction vessel Amazon. Cronos adds Eastern Mediterranean gas to a contractor book that is no longer only Gulf or Atlantic. The same week the company is still leaning into Mozambique. Through majority-owned SMDC with Saipem, Daewoo E&C and CPECC, McDermott holds a letter of intent from @exxonmobil Moçambique for continued engineering and procurement on Rovuma LNG Phase 1, still heading toward a 2026 FID. The plant is designed around 12 modular liquefaction units for 18.6 million tonnes a year from 2031. It is ExxonMobil’s largest single investment. A Standard Bank study puts government revenue at about $150 billion over 30 years, about $11 billion a year on GDP and more than 150,000 jobs. Engineering sits in London and Gurgaon, with joint-venture management in Milan. McDermott has also signed a cooperation agreement with Dutch developer ULC-Energy to support Rolls-Royce small modular reactors in the Netherlands, tying SMR power to industrial processes and building on a 2023 study of SMR heat and electricity with solid-oxide electrolysers for hydrogen. Partners already around Rolls-Royce SMR include Siemens Energy, BAM, Mammoet, Urenco, Orano and Fugro, with McDermott working from The Hague. Gas, LNG and nuclear are now on the same contractor platform. petropulseonline.com/news/mc…

🛢️ PetroPulse Summer 2026 Issue — Out Now! Africa, in the throes of its latest energy evolution, still needs a structural recalibration — from reacting to shocks to building systems that absorb them. And it is doing that work in a world gripped by conflict, closed straits, and a global energy order being rewritten in real time, with nuclear, long demonized and marginalized, making its entry on the global scene, alongside scaled up oil and gas and renewable energy investment. Inside the Issue 👇🏽 🔥 Editorial: Future-Proofing Africa’s Energy Security Progress is not preparedness. @DangoteGroup was mocked in 2013 and is now the buffer several markets cannot do without. Kenya paid in blood and riot. The United States spent a decade building the LNG architecture that now steadies the system when a strait closes. This editorial inventories what Africa has built — and what still fails when the shock arrives on time. 🛢️ La Conversation: Afetsi Awoonor on Ghana’s Energy Backbone @bostenergies is to petroleum what @GRIDCo_ghana is to power and @GNGCOfficial is to gas. @AfetsiOfficial takes the reader inside the network you do not see: pipelines first, trucks where the right-of-way still will not pay, a six-week reserve target, CNG for the haulage fleet, and biofuels that fit the tanks already built. Without that public backbone, capital follows the fattest margins and whole demand zones wait for a business case. 📊 PetroStats & Market Intelligence A world in energy volatility, from Hormuz to Omsk, and Ghana’s energy reset rollout in 10+ charts! • Three chokepoints — roughly a quarter of seaborne oil at risk • East Africa’s product dependence on the Gulf • Ghana’s H1 downstream in mass terms, plus the ESSA ledger under Act 1135 • Brent back above $100, and a cedi that did not crash — it seeped 8.1%, then jumped 🏛️ Institutional Watch: The Q2 Rebuild @TemaOilrefinery takes three million-barrel cargoes, closes a six-year audit, and posts its first profit in a decade against a $400 million monthly import bill. Ghana Gas is already outgrowing Atuabo, which is why GPP II is moving. @NPAGhana , @GNPCGhana , @GNPCExplorco, the commissions, the Ministry of Energy and Green Transition and the @petroleumhubgh — same problem, different points on the chain: produce more, process more, keep more value at home. 🎯 Pulse Spotlight: Energy for Africa, By Africa Paul Sinclair has spent more than two decades stitching capital to African opportunity. As CEO of AOW:Energy he now runs the thing those years were for: a trusted community whose job is to put governments, investors and operators in the same room and not leave until a project has a path. Ghana sits at the centre of that argument — stability, ambition, regional weight. His measure is blunt: one deal, two deals, as many as it takes to turn subsurface into jobs. 🌍 Africa Focus: From Communiqué to Instrument @AppoSecretariat , @arda_africa and the @energy_african move from statements to operating documents. Refine as sovereignty. Gas anchored with the GECF. An Africa Energy Bank in the conversation. Nuclear ambition meeting renewable reality on the only test that counts: usable power. 🌐 Global Grid: When Energy Security Rewrites the Transition America’s second energy century runs from Standard Oil to LNG terminals that do not have to thread Hormuz. Europe’s climate architecture is under industrial pressure. Technology matters. So do the routes. The gains are real. The recalibration is unfinished. The world around both is being redrawn by crisis. 📘 Grab your copy of our 2026 Summer Issue Now! petropulseonline.com/news/th…

#GlobalEnergyUpdate | Russia’s Fifth Gasoline Cargo Marks Import Turn as Refinery Runs Fall 28% Russia is set to receive its fifth confirmed seaborne gasoline cargo since late July, a roughly 200,000-barrel shipment loaded at Turkey’s Mersin port, as identified seaborne imports already exceed 1 million barrels. The move comes amid sharply reduced domestic refining, with S&P Global Energy CERA estimating July crude runs at 3.7 million barrels per day — 28% below the 2025 average — following repeated strikes, maintenance and operational disruptions. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said gasoline supply remains tight while domestic diesel and aviation-kerosene supplies are sufficient, noting that several refineries have resumed operations and authorities have shortened maintenance periods, postponed scheduled work and released fuel reserves. A complete gasoline export ban remains in force through 31 January 2027. The developments aim to sustain domestic motor-fuel availability through diversified seaborne import routes and operational adjustments, supporting market stability while reduced Russian export flexibility continues to shape international product balances. Further recovery in refining capacity will determine whether imports and restrictions can ease. petropulseonline.com/news/ru…

#PulseEditorial | Ghana Has the Plan. Egypt Has the Plant. The Missing Link Is Project Conversion Ghana’s Public Facility Sustainable Energy Action Plan (PF-SEAP), costed at an indicative US$181.7 million in 2022, targets solar, efficiency and enabling measures across public buildings and water infrastructure. A linked African Development Bank procurement for 645 public-sector solar PV systems reached the tender stage in March 2026, but much of the broader programme remains at the planning or early-procurement stage. Egypt, by contrast, has brought the 1.125 GW Obelisk solar plant with 100 MW/200 MWh battery storage into full commercial operation. Scatec secured a 25-year USD power purchase agreement with sovereign guarantee, layered project finance from EBRD, AfDB, BII and EIB, and phased COD (first half in February 2026, second half in August 2026). The contrast is not ambition or technology. It is the ability to convert detailed plans into bankable portfolios with defined contracts, credible cash flows, allocated risks, closed finance and operating assets. Ghana’s next meaningful milestone is not another programme total, but a closed portfolio of audited facilities with measurable savings or generation, standard contracts and committed funding.

#PetroPulseIntel | LNG Fleet Grows to 804 Vessels as Charter Rates Stay Weak Then Spike The active LNG fleet reached 804 vessels at the end of 2025 (including 49 FSRUs and 11 FSUs), up 8.4% after 79 deliveries, according to the IGU 2026 World LNG Report. The orderbook stands at 301 vessels under construction. Total voyages declined 2.8% to 6,712. Charter rates remained historically weak through most of 2025, with modern vessels often earning only enough to cover operating costs. A temporary late-year recovery pushed rates above US$60,000/day, with peaks exceeding US$90,000–100,000/day. Early 2026 saw a sharp spike East of Suez, with rates surging from around US$14,250/day to a peak of US$300,000/day before easing to approximately US$100,000/day amid the Hormuz disruption. Fleet expansion outpaced shipping volumes, keeping the market oversupplied and freight rates low for most of 2025. Larger new vessels further reduced the number of voyages required. The early-2026 rate spike demonstrated how quickly costs and vessel availability can tighten when a major transit route is disrupted. Low 2025 rates reduced transportation costs for African exporters (Nigeria, Angola, Mauritania/Senegal) and importers (Egypt, Senegal). The subsequent volatility affected the continent’s trade flows directly, as African cargoes compete in the same global vessel pool. petropulseonline.com/news/ln…

#PetroPulseIntel | LNG Trade Hits Record 437 Mt as Flows Shift Strongly to Europe Global LNG trade reached a record 436.98 million tonnes in 2025, up 25.74 Mt (+6.3%) from 2024, according to the IGU 2026 World LNG Report. Nearly all additional supply came from the United States (110.74 Mt, +22.3 Mt), lifting North American exports to 113.91 Mt. Europe absorbed most of the extra volumes, importing 126.2 Mt (+26.1 Mt) after the end of Russian pipeline gas via Ukraine. Asian imports declined to 108.7 Mt (−9.2 Mt), driven by an 8.9 Mt drop in China. African imports rose sharply to 9.8 Mt (from 2.7 Mt), almost entirely due to higher Egyptian demand, while African exports edged higher and Mauritania/Senegal delivered their first cargoes of 1.22 Mt. Canada also entered the market with 2.14 Mt of exports. The pattern highlights clearer regionalisation of LNG trade: flexible Atlantic Basin cargoes increasingly cleared into Europe, while Asia relied more on nearby and Middle Eastern supply. This reduces the volume of freely switchable cargoes and raises the value of destination-flexible supply during disruptions, as seen in early 2026.

#LaycanWeekly | Côte d’Ivoire Advances Downstream: Cleaner Fuel at SIR and Faster Depot Loading Côte d’Ivoire is strengthening both ends of its downstream value chain. The African Development Bank (@AfDB_Group) has approved a €200 million loan towards an €833 million Clean Air project that will enable Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR) to produce ultra-low-sulphur diesel through a new hydrodesulphurisation complex, targeted for commissioning in 2029. Eleven days later, the government commissioned a 20,000-cubic-metre diesel tank and Côte d’Ivoire’s first bottom-loading station at the Yamoussoukro GESTOCI depot. The system is expected to cut tanker loading time from about 45 minutes to 15 minutes, supporting higher throughput as the country aims to become a net exporter of petroleum products by 2030. Separately, @afreximbank has approved a US$200 million facility for the Shoreline Group-linked contractor Arkad to support guarantees and working capital on a major Algerian oilfield contract, highlighting the importance of African execution capacity. The investments come as ECOWAS continues work on implementing its 50 ppm sulphur specifications for petrol and diesel, underscoring that cleaner-fuel mandates require corresponding refinery and distribution infrastructure.

#DownstreamUpdate | BOSTenergies Donates GH₵1 Million to Ghana Medical Trust Fund @bostenergies has donated GH₵1 million to the @ghanamedtf (GMTF) to support life-saving treatment for Ghanaians battling chronic and life-threatening illnesses. Presenting the cheque, Managing Director @AfetsiOfficial described the contribution as “an investment in lives, families and the future of our nation,” and called on Corporate Ghana to back the Fund’s mission of ensuring no patient is denied critical care due to financial constraints. Receiving the donation, GMTF Administrator Adjoa Obuobia Darko-Opoku noted that every cedi represents hope for patients awaiting chemotherapy, dialysis, heart surgery, brain surgery and other specialised interventions. “This generous support will help us save more lives and bring hope to families who have exhausted every option,” she said. The Ghana Medical Trust Fund expressed gratitude to BOSTenergies and urged more organisations to join the national effort to make quality specialised healthcare accessible to every Ghanaian.

#AfricanEnergyUpdate | @nnpclimited & @DangoteGroup Still Importing Gasoline Despite Refining Expansion Even as domestic refining capacity grows, Nigeria imported significant volumes of gasoline in June: - NNPC: ~50,000 barrels per day - Dangote Refinery: ~12,000 barrels per day The purchases highlight persistent supply gaps and the country’s continued dependence on overseas fuel to meet demand.

#AfricanEnergyUpdate | Côte d’Ivoire Gasoline Imports Hit Record High in June Côte d’Ivoire imported 54,000 barrels per day of gasoline in June — the highest level in Kpler records since 2017. The surge was triggered by maintenance at the state-owned SIR’s 75,000 bpd Abidjan refinery, which forced the refiner to seek an additional 40,000 tonnes of imported fuel.

#AfricanEnergyUpdate | Nigeria’s Gasoline Imports More Than Double in June Nigeria imported 131,000 barrels per day of gasoline in June — more than double the 57,000 bpd recorded in May. Independent marketers rushed purchases ahead of the expiry of permits covering roughly 700,000 tonnes of Q2 imports. The sharp surge highlights how regulatory deadlines continue to drive import spikes, even as domestic refining capacity expands.

PetroPulse Today | Ghana eyes 70% local refining, Eni-Saipem expand Côte d’Ivoire drilling, Somalia tests Curad-1, ExxonMobil flags EU methane risk, EXMAR launches ammonia ship, oil supply rebounds, suppliers warn of 2027 shock as EU offers penalty pause. #GhanaEnergy #AfricaEnergy #OilAndGas #EnergyTransition #PetroPulse

#PulseEditorial | From Ghana’s Permit Offices to South Africa’s Batteries – Africa Tests the Full Power Chain Announcing megawatts is easy. Delivering dependable, affordable power is hard. This week’s developments show the real test: - Ghana integrating energy efficiency into building permits to cut future demand. - South Africa commissioning a 216 MW solar plant paired with 500 MWh of storage. - AfDB tying $400M to verified utility performance. - Ethiopia advancing the 300 MW Aysha wind project with $ 110M+ financing. The message is clear: Africa’s clean energy transition now hinges on execution — demand reduction, storage, credible offtakers, utility reform, and bankable delivery — not just headline capacity. petropulseonline.com/news/fr…

#GreenEnergyUpdate | Solar Carports + Battery Storage: Turning University Parking Lots into Clean Energy Hubs @TotalEnergies , in partnership with Sonoma State University and the California State University system, has transformed five campus parking lots into a 4.1 MW solar carport portfolio paired with 1.55 MWh of battery storage. Key wins: - Zero upfront cost for the university via Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) - Over $5 million in projected utility savings in the first five years - Enhanced grid resilience against outages and peak pricing - A living laboratory for students and faculty research A smart model for turning underutilised space into reliable, sustainable power.

#AfricanEnergyUpdate | Saipem Wins ~US$260 Million Offshore Drilling Contract from Eni Côte d’Ivoire Saipem has been awarded a new offshore drilling contract valued at approximately US$260 million by @eni Côte d’Ivoire Limited. The high-specification drillship Santorini will undertake a long-term development drilling campaign offshore Côte d’Ivoire, with operations scheduled to begin in early 2027. The firm programme includes the potential for deployment in neighbouring countries and additional optional periods, extending the unit’s utilisation visibility. The award reinforces Saipem’s competitive position in offshore drilling and its capacity to support clients’ exploration, appraisal and development activities across the region.

#OTR | @EU_Commission Recommends Three-Year Methane Penalty Grace Period for Importers The European Commission has issued a formal Recommendation dated 20 July 2026 urging Member States not to apply the penalties set out in Article 33(5)(m), (n) and (o) of the EU Methane Regulation (EU) 2024/1787 for importer infringements of obligations due in 2027, 2028 and 2029, except in cases of fraud. The recommendation is driven by the ongoing Middle East energy crisis and disruptions to the Strait of Hormuz, which have tightened global oil and gas markets, elevated prices and created legal uncertainty that risks deterring new supply contracts to the EU. Key points: • Obligations under Articles 27, 28 and 29 remain fully in force. • Member States should actively monitor and incentivise compliance during the grace period. • The Commission will review the recommendation by 1 January 2028. • National penalty regimes should still be established as a priority. The non-binding guidance aims to protect energy security while preserving the Regulation’s long-term objectives. petropulseonline.com/news/co…

#OTR | @exxonmobil Europe Warns EU Methane Rules Risk Energy Security and Higher Prices In a viewpoint published on 1 June 2026, Alice Wells of ExxonMobil Europe argues that the EU Methane Regulation’s stringent monitoring, reporting and verification requirements — due from 2027 — could leave up to 43% of natural gas and 87% of oil supplies non-compliant, according to a Wood Mackenzie study. She contends the rules focus on administrative standards rather than immediate methane reductions (which begin in 2030), creating uncertainty that is already deterring 2027 contract decisions and exposing importers to potential penalties of up to 20% of annual turnover. Wells warns of higher gasoline and diesel prices (estimated +24% and +16%), reduced industrial competitiveness, and further deindustrialisation risks. While affirming ExxonMobil’s support for methane mitigation and its own strong track record, she calls for a “stop-the-clock” process and simplified implementation to protect supply security and affordability amid the ongoing Middle East crisis. petropulseonline.com/news/th…

#OTR | Major Energy Suppliers Issue Open Letter Urging EU to Amend Methane Regulation In a strongly worded joint statement, the United States, Qatar, Nigeria, and Algeria have called on EU leaders to urgently amend the EU Methane Regulation (EUMR), warning that the current rules will render nearly all EU oil imports and a significant portion of gas imports non-compliant from January 2027. The ministers urge a “stop-the-clock” mechanism, grandfathering of new contracts, removal of penalties during transition, and pragmatic clarifications to protect energy security and avoid severe supply disruptions and price spikes. petropulseonline.com/news/an…