The Biggest Energy Stories This Week!

Dear Reader.

Greetings from Uyo, Nigeria.

Welcome to this week’s edition of the Bavijas Notes, a free weekly review of the latest, top-ranking energy news around the world curated for your informational benefits. This newsletter is read by 20,000+ people on both LinkedIn and WhatsApp every week.

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A Look At Global Oil Markets!

Bullish sentiments have returned to the global energy markets of late as major oil benchmarks like ICE Brent and WTI are on track for further gains. As of the last price view, Nigeria’s Bonny Light, OPEC’s Basket, and Brent are each 4 dollars shy of hitting the $90 per bbl mark.

A look at OPEC’s 2024 Annual Statistical Bulletin (ASB) reveals that in 2023, global oil demand grew by 2.6 million barrels (bbls) per day to reach 102.2 million bbls per day, with China, India, and the Middle East as major consumers.

The Bulletin also reported that as of last year (2023), global oil reserves grew by 6 billion bbls to 1,570 billion bbls (with OPEC controlling 1,241 billion bbls). Plus, global gas reserves stood at 206.43 trillion cubic meters, with OPEC in control of 75.12 trillion cubic meters.?

Big Energy Stories This Week!

1. Nigeria Wins Bid To Host African Energy Bank (AEB)

Nigeria’s capital Abuja has been selected to host the headquarters of the budding African Energy Bank (AEB). The decision was revealed at the 45th Extraordinary Session of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO) Ministerial Council on July 4, 2024. The competitive bid had top contenders like Ghana, Algeria, South Africa, and C?te d’Ivoire.

2. Italian Oil Giant Eni Will Focus More On Gas Going Forward

The firm’s COO Guido Brusco said although the world’s demand for oil is expected to decline in the future, it won’t happen in the next 10 or 15 years as forecast by some agencies, adding that Eni aims to increase gas’ share of its production mix to 60% by 2030 and 90% by 2050, up from around 52–53% currently.

3. Nigeria’s Electricity Regulator Announces New Hike in Tariff for Band A Customers

The hike was increased from N2016.8/kW-hr to N209.5/kW-hr, representing a 1.31% month-on-month rise for all eleven (11) distribution companies (DisCos) in Nigeria for band A users serviced; from residential to commercial and industrial users. The labour union has however frowned on the hike, calling for an immediate reversal over existing hardship in the country.

4. British Petroleum (BP) To Co-develop Green Hydrogen Project in Egypt

The London-based oil and gas firm will now be the main developer of a potentially large-scale project (with a feasibility study in view) in a consortium comprising two of UAE’s companies run by Masdar as well as Egypt’s Hassan Allam Utilities. BP is a major gas producer in Egypt, where it has been operating for about 60 years now.??

5. Libya’s Oil Minister Steps Down For the Second Time

Mr. Mohamed Oun was temporarily suspended by the country's Prime Minister over an initiative he introduced, but tells Energy Intelligence that he aims to "return in the near future". His deputy Khalifa Abdulsadek has been appointed acting oil minister, a development oil investors fear might impact the upstream licensing round expected later this year.??

6. Another Two Multinational Oil Companies Flee Onshore Nigeria

The Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) has just approved the sale of two key onshore assets owned by both Eni and Equinor to two Nigerian operators Oando and Project Odinmim (a new entrant), respectively. In other words, Eni’s interest in Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) will be operated by Oando. Of late, many IOCs have been farming out of onshore assets in Nigeria.?Recall, that ExxonMobil and Shell are farming out.

7. Egypt - EU Investment Conference Attracts Over? €67 Billion Worth of Deals

The two-day event was held in Cairo and aimed to foster bilateral relations, enhance economic cooperation, and explore sustainable development avenues. Egypt’s plans to invest in clean energy to address recent blackouts and gas shortages align with the EU’s strategic energy import goal. Mind you, the cost of producing renewable energy is lower in North Africa than in the EU.

8. The Vatican Set To Generate 100% of Power From Renewables

Pope Francis announced plans to build a solar plant, which when completed, could shut the City State up to become the 8th country in the world to do so, joining Albania, Bhutan, Nepal, Paraguay, Ethiopia, Iceland, and Congo, all of which depend on renewables for?>99.7% of their power, according to data from Stanford University. ?

9. China Launches World’s Largest Sodium-Ion BESS System

Datang Group, China’s state-owned power firm, unveiled the world’s largest operating sodium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) in Hubei Province. The 50 MW/100 MWh project, which represents the 1st phase of the Datang Hubei Sodium Ion BESS station, consists of 42 battery containers and 21 sets of boost converters.

10. Nigeria Declares State of Emergency on Crude Oil Production

The state-owned energy company NNPC Limited declares war on oil production as daily output falls to 1.2 million barrels, a far cry from its annual target of 2 million barrels. The company's GCEO Mallam Mele Kyari announced this at the 23rd edition of the Nigerian Oil & Gas Conference and Exhibition (NOG Energy Week) held in Abuja on Tuesday, July 2, 2024.

Plus,

In other news, Nigeria introduces zero taxation on pharmaceutical production in a bid to boost local manufacturing of healthcare products, reduce costs, and enhance the competitiveness of the grossly under-performing local industry.

Hope you find this edition insightful. Let's hear your thoughts.

Till next time!

PS. Victor Bassey is a freelance energy analyst and founder at Bavijas , where he heads an independent energy research team. This edition was published with help from Oghenetega Onoshoho , an energy auditor and renewables correspondent for North Africa.?