Alrosa’s deputy CEO, Vladimir Marchenko, is stepping down from his role to pursue a new opportunity within the diamond industry. Marchenko joined Alrosa in 2017 as vice president of production for Africa and South America, before being promoted to deputy CEO in 2018. In his tenure, Marchenko led key projects in Africa, including efforts to identify new diamond deposits in Zimbabwe. He also currently heads the Russia-Zimbabwe Business Council (RZBC). Alrosa CEO Pavel Marinychev praised
Alrosa predicts that supply and demand for rough and polished diamonds will balance out in the coming months as midstream inventory levels decline. Sergey Takhiev, Alrosa’s head of corporate finance, highlighted strong demand for jewelry and a reduction in diamond-mining capacity—down by up to 20% from 2018-2019 levels—will drive price growth. He also pointed to the rapid rise of online jewelry sales, which has allowed jewelers to reduce inventory requirements. “The normalization of inventories has
BP Plc and Kosmos Energy Ltd. have commenced gas production from offshore fields in Senegal and Mauritania as part of the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) project. The $4.8 billion initiative aims to produce approximately 2.3 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually during its first phase. The project involves wells drilled in deep waters, reaching depths of up to 2,850 meters, with gas directed to a floating storage vessel for processing. On December 31,
Galp, along with its partners NAMCOR and Custos, has completed drilling and logging the Mopane-2A well (Well 4) in PEL83, following its successful spudding. The Mopane-2A well revealed a gas-condensate hydrocarbon column in the AVO-3 reservoir, featuring a thin net pay within the reservoir’s sweet spot. Additionally, the well uncovered a light oil hydrocarbon column in the smaller AVO-4 reservoir. Both reservoirs exhibited high-quality sands with excellent porosity and permeability, elevated pressures, low fluid viscosities,
Australian exploration and production company Red Sky Energy has solidified its entry into Angola’s oil and gas sector by finalizing a Risk Service Contract (RSC) for Block 6/24 in the Kwanza Basin. This milestone marks the company’s first venture into the resource-rich country. The agreement, signed on December 31, 2024, involves partnerships with Angola’s upstream regulator National Agency for Oil, Gas, and Biofuels (ANPG), Sonangol Exploração e Produção SA, and ACREP Exploração Petrolífera SA, granting
Energy supermajor TotalEnergies has extended its contract for the Deepsea Mira semi-submersible rig, which is currently operating offshore Namibia. The rig is owned by Northern Ocean and managed by Odfjell Drilling. The extension adds 65 to 93 days to the initial contract term, generating an estimated additional revenue backlog of $27 million to $38 million for Northern Ocean. The sixth-generation CS 60 E harsh environment rig, capable of operating in water depths up to 10,000
Spanish energy giant Repsol has resumed exploration activities in Libya’s Murzuq Basin, ending a ten-year hiatus. On December 31, 2024, the company began drilling operations at the Al-2/130 exploratory well, also known as Muammal Nasr. Located approximately 800 kilometers south of Tripoli and 12 kilometers from the Sharara oil field, the well targets the Mumaniyyat formation with a planned final depth of 1,844 meters. Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) welcomed the move, expressing optimism that
Infinity Power, in partnership with Pele Green Energy, has been awarded six solar projects with a combined capacity of 1.28 GW under South Africa’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Programme (REIPPPP) Seventh Round. This achievement will triple Infinity Power’s current generation capacity in South Africa, supporting its ambitious goal to deploy 10 GW of renewable energy across Africa by 2030. Expanding South Africa’s Renewable Energy Landscape The six solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, with a
Angolan upstream firm ACREP plans to commence oil exploration in the onshore Cabinda Norte Block in 2025, with the goal of determining the economic viability of the block. The company will conduct feasibility studies to assess the block’s potential production capacity following exploration. Since 1968, up to 20 wells have been drilled in the block, but bureaucratic challenges have hindered their development. ACREP’s Operations Director, Idonio dos Santos, stated that these challenges have now been
Offshore drilling contractor Noble Corporation has secured a $171 million contract with Tullow Ghana to deploy its Noble Venturer drillship for exploration services in the West African nation. Under the 360-day contract, the Noble Venturer will drill six wells starting in May 2025. The first two wells are scheduled for completion within 120 days, followed by a maintenance period for the drill rig until the end of 2025. The remaining four wells are set to
