De Beers made big cuts to its diamond prices as the world’s top producer tries to revive gem sales after the market ground to a halt last year. The industry almost came to a complete standstill in the second half of 2023 as the two biggest miners all but stopped supplies in a desperate attempt to stem a collapse in prices. While those efforts helped the market to pick up a bit, it’s unclear how
Angolan sovereign wealth fund Fundo Soberano de Angola (FSDEA) is “delighted to see the excellent progress” that is being achieved on site at the Longonjo rare earths project, as this is an important project for the entity, FSDEA chairperson Armando Manuel has said. On January 10, London-listed Pensana Rare Earths and its local subsidiary Ozango Minerais welcomed the full board of FSDEA to Longonjo for a site inspection. The six members of the board were
Cheap gasoline from a supply glut along the U.S. Gulf Coast has reopened far-flung markets including Australia and Mozambique to exports of the U.S. fuel. U.S. gasoline demand at the end of December fell to the lowest in a year. Stocks in PADD 3 along the Gulf Coast were up 9.5% over a year earlier at the end of last month as refiners cranked up production after fall maintenance outages. A cargo of U.S. gasoline
Nigerian integrated energy company, Optimera Energy LFZ Enterprise, has started construction on natural gas distribution infrastructure within the Lagos Free Zone. Under a 20-year Gas Infrastructure Development Agreement with the Lagos Free Zone Company, the project includes a 25-million standard cubic feet per day City Gate Station, a 10-km distribution line and a 6.5-km, ten-inch gas pipeline. The pipeline connects the Escravos – Lagos Pipeline System tie-in point in the Lekki Corridor to the Optimera
Installation works for the ANOH Gas Processing Plant – located in OML 53 in Nigeria – reached mechanical completion on December 19, 2023, Nigerian independent oil and gas company Seplat Energy announced. Drilling and hook-up of the upstream wells, essential third-party infrastructure, the OB3 pipeline river crossing and Spur Line has also been completed, with the third and fourth wells – ASSN-05 and ASSN-06 – completed. The next step before plant commissioning and the start
South Africa’s Department of Mineral Resources and Energy (DMRE) has launched Bid Window 7 under the country’s Renewable Independent Power Producers Procurement Program. The seventh bid submission phase aims to procure 3.2 GW of onshore wind and 1.8 GW of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects, for a total renewable energy capacity of 5 GW. “Given the energy challenges the country is facing, the qualification criteria has been developed to promote the participation of projects that are
Access to charging stations is not the only factor limiting the wide-spread adoption of electric vehicles in the United States. Experts are concerned that, in the coming years, EV sales could be further dampened by the diminishing supplies of a material most Americans have thought little about since high school chemistry: cobalt. A heavy metal found primarily in central Africa, cobalt is an essential component of the batteries used to power electric vehicles. And for
The Longonjo Rare Earths Project, which spans 21 km2, is located near the town of Longonjo in central Angola and near Lobito Corridor’s Benguela Railway. Australia-based Pensana Rare Earths said that its subsidiary Ozango Minerals has secured approval from the Angolan President for the exploitation of the Longonjo Rare Earths Project in the Central African country. President João Lourenço approved the company’s mining title, which will be valid for 35 years, for the mining of
Dangote Petroleum Refinery has commenced production of diesel and aviation fuel. President of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, elatedly thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his support, encouragement, and thoughtful advice towards the actualization of this project. Dangote also thanked the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Limited), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) and Nigerians for their support and belief in the historic project. “We
Sonangol confirmed, on Thursday, the existence of oil in almost the entire thickness of the Cuanza Onshore Basin, after drilling “considered very positive”. In a press release that was released today, the state oil company states that the discovery significantly increases the remaining potential of the Tobias field. “The production capacity of the well will be verified after tests are carried out to be carried out soon”, the note adds. According to the document, the
