A Nigerian court made the first convictions under a new anti-piracy law, giving hope to the world's shipping fleets that legal reforms will help stem rising attacks in the Gulf of Guinea.The three men fined by the court in Port Harcourt, Nigeria's oil hub…
Crew kidnappings and violent attacks on vessels in the oil-rich West Africa region have soared in 2020, with 77 seafarers taken hostage or kidnapped for ransom since January, according to the ICC International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latest piracy report…
Equatorial Guinea has granted oil and gas companies two-year extensions on their exploration programs, a statement from the hydrocarbons minister said.The move is an effort to keep investments flowing into the nation's energy industry amid a…
Piracy activity on the Mexican side of the Gulf of Mexico seems to be picking up, with several attacks in the past month on offshore support vessels.A little over a week ago, a Maersk Supply Service's offshore vessel was a target of an armed robbery offshore Ciudad Del Carmen…
Marine seismic company Polarcus is set to reduce workforce and employees' salaries, and stack survey vessels, as a response to the uncertainty marine seismic industry is facing in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, and the current low oil prices…
Equatorial Guinea’s minister for mines and hydrocarbons Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima has signed several MoU with bidders of the country’s 2019 Licensing Round.The government of Equatorial Guinea last year offered 27 free blocks for exploration…
Houston-based Vaalco Energy said that it is in talks to serve as operator for three Equatorial Guinea (EG) oil blocks recently awarded to Levene Hydrocarbon.Vaalco Energy Mauritius (Vaalco EG), the subsidiary of the company, is in preliminary…
Pirates have abducted seven crew members from an anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessel offshore Equatorial Guinea, the vessel's owner Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO) said.The Singaporean-flagged Pacific Warden was attacked on November 20, 2019 at approximately 5 a…
Gabon, sub-Saharan Africa’s eighth largest oil producer, last week participated in the last of its earlier scheduled nine events held in North America, Asia, Europe and Africa, to popularize the 12th shallow and deep water licensing round with only three months before the bidding process is closed…
New currency controls enforced by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC) could ruin the oil and gas industry in the Gulf of Guinea and 'destroy' Equatorial Guinea's economy, the country's oil minister told Reuters on Wednesday.Equatorial Guinea…
Nigeria-based Homeland Integrated Offshore Services LTD (Homeland IOS) said it has placed an order with the Singaporean Penguin Shipyard for several Flex Fighter security/crew vessels for delivery in December 2019.The 40-meter vessels are among the first of Penguin Shipyard’s latest generation…
The new discovery offshore Equatorial Guinea’s Block 1 by US-based exploration and production company Noble Energy puts the West African country on the road to reversing declining oil and gas output should the project be turned into a viable commercial venture…
Maersk Drilling said its drillship Maersk Voyager has been hired by Kosmos Energy to drill the S-5 exploration well offshore Equatorial Guinea.The contract has been novated to Kosmos from Noble Energy after a one-well option was exercised on the rig’s current contract…
Tenaris said it has been awarded a contract from Noble Energy for work on the offshore export pipeline for the Alen Gas Monetization Project in Equatorial Guinea.This 70-kilometer pipeline will transport natural gas from the Alen offshore platform…
The outlook for West Africa’s offshore oil and gas market remains positive despite some hiccups hinged on delay by some countries in the region to align their hydrocarbon regulations to prevailing market trends and the intensifying global competition…