EOI call for Kenya's oil jetty

Kenya's National Oil Corp has floated an EOI for a project adviser  for a new oil jetty in the port city of Mombasa.

 The tendedr, published on Monday, NOCK invites firms to submit expressions of interest by Sept. 29 to act as adviser for the Public Private Partnership (PPP) project.

"The successful candidate will  review the original feasibility study to cater for the oil discoveries which have made Kenya a potential oil exporter.

 The initial plans unveiled in 2012 for the oil jetty, or single buoy mooring, and storage facilities were pushed back to change the scope and design after oil was found in Kenya. The initial plan was to cost some US$500 million.

"We originally envisaged to work with a specific jetty design as a net importer of oil but that changed because of the discovery of oil deposits in Kenya in 2012," NOCK spokesman Temesi Mukani  told Reuters.

The tender document said the project aimed to ensure the port was more efficient, cut delays and made Kenya's coast a competitive choice for oil tankers. Another objective is to "provide the infrastructure that will support east African states to export their discoveries to global markets".

The main export route discussed up until now for Kenyan and Ugandan oil, both still a few years from major production, would be via a planned pipeline in north Kenya to a new port at Lamu.
Kenya is under pressure to boost storage facilities and develop a strategic reserve to stabilise petroleum supplies. The country has no strategic reserves and relies on oil marketers' 21-day reserves required under industry regulations.

Crude has also been found in next door Uganda, part of a string of hydrocarbons finds along Africa's east coast and the Rift Valley that passes through Kenya and neighbouring states.

Fuel prices have a big impact on inflation in the east African nation, which relies heavily on diesel for transport, power generation and agriculture, while kerosene is used in many households for cooking and lighting.

Kenya Bourse's IPO oversubscribed

NAIROBI, Sept 3 (Reuters) - The Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) has raised 627 million Kenyan shillings ($7.1 million) for expansion in an oversubscribed initial public offering as part of plans to demutualise the bourse.

Demutualisation is seen as a way of curbing the influence stockbrokers have over the exchange's management, which has been criticised for reacting slowly to breaches in regulations.

The funds raised will be used to develop new products such as derivatives, exchange-traded funds and Sharia-compliant indexes, NSE Chief Executive Peter Mwangi said in a statement late on Tuesday.

The completion of the IPO makes the NSE the second African exchange after the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to be demutualised and transition from a private, mutual company to a public, listed company.

The NSE had said it was seeking to raise 627 million shillings by selling up to 66 million new shares at a price of 9.50 shillings per share. Investors applied for 504,189,700 new shares worth 4.8 billion shillings garnering a subscription of 764 percent, and an over subscription of 664 percent.

The new shareholders will be able to trade their NSE shares next Tuesday, the NSE said.

Following the listing - planned since 2005 - the NSE shares will trade like any other company on the bourse.

Reuters

Uganda Lifts Oil Reserves

UGANDA has revised upwards  to 6.5 billion barrels after an appraisal that also showed commercial deposits of natural gas, officials said.

The east African country discovered commercial hydrocarbon deposits in the Albertine rift basin that straddles its border with the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2006.

Production has been repeatedly delayed since then by contractual disagreements, tax disputes and infrastructure setbacks and is now expected from 2017.

In a speech seen by Reuters on Friday, Ernest Rubondo commissioner for the energy ministry's Petroleum Exploration and Production Department, said only 40 percent of the basin had been explored so far and that estimated recoverable oil stood at 1.4 billion barrels.

Production of the discovered oil could last 20 to 30 years, and even more oil could be found, Rubondo said.

"Since additional exploration and appraisal is expected ... this could lead to additional resources being discovered in the country, hence prolonging the production period," Rubondo said.

Rubondo said Uganda was preparing for "open competitive licensing rounds" for the remaining acreage in the basin, but did not yet have a time frame for the process.

Ugandan officials say they aim to get better terms from explorers in future oil deals now that the country's exploration risk has been diminished by the discovery of more commercially viable oil deposits.

In a separate statement, the energy ministry said on Friday that the country had some 500 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

Ugandan oil officials have long suspected the presence of gas traces, but on Friday they confirmed publicly for the first time the existence of commercial natural gas deposits.

East Africa has been a focus of hydrocarbon exploration after substantial crude oil deposits were found in Kenya, although commercial viability has yet to be established. Major gas reserves have been discovered in Tanzania and Mozambique.

London-listed Tullow Oil, France's Total SA and CNOOC of China, are exploring for oil in Uganda. Tullow has estimated Uganda could earn up to $50 billion from its oil reserves. 

America's scramble for Africa

"Engaging with Africa not as a choice, but as a necessity,"

 The Obama administration on Tuesday pushed for Congress to renew a 14-year-old trade program giving African countries duty-free access to U.S. markets, warning that allowing the program to expire would disrupt trade flows between the two regions.

U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman said the African Growth Opportunity Act, or AGOA, which expires on Sept. 30 next year had both benefited African countries and supported 120,000 U.S. jobs.

Froman's remarks came just days before the White House is set to host 50 African leaders at a three-day U.S.-Africa summit aimed at strengthening relations. AGOA, which is at the heart of U.S.-Africa trade ties, will be a key issue.

Enacted in 2000, AGOA gives about 7,000 products from sub-Saharan African countries access to U.S. markets free of import duty. Nearly 40 African countries are eligible to take part.

"Given that Africa is home to the world's fastest growing middle class and six out of 10 of the fastest growing economies in 2014, it's easy to see why companies like General Electric Co, Caterpillar Inc and Procter & Gamble Co increasingly view engaging with Africa not as a choice, but as a necessity," Froman said.

The head of the House Ways and Means trade subcommittee, Devin Nunes, told reporters Congress could package AGOA renewal together with fast-track power for trade negotiations, or trade promotion authority (TPA), and other outstanding trade issues.

"We have so many of these trade issues that are basically standing behind TPA, we have got to get TPA first," he said.

Exports from sub-Saharan Africa to the United States under AGOA and other trade preferences totaled $26.8 billion in 2013, according to USTR data. Most of those exports were petroleum products; non-oil goods accounted for just $4.9 billion.

"That is still relatively modest and we want to see that grow," Froman said at an event sponsored by the Brookings Institution.

The trade program has been criticized for disproportionately benefiting certain industries and a handful of countries, including Nigeria, South Africa and Angola.

Some African leaders have also said their countries lack the skilled labor and infrastructure to take advantage of it. Several African countries, for instance, are plagued with poor roads and shortages of electricity, which leads to power rationing that interrupts manufacturing.

Froman said the Obama administration plans to address AGOA's shortcomings and expand access to the program while also holding eligible countries more accountable. His office wants Congress to renew the program in advance.

Lawmakers will likely demand overhauls to the program, including making it more 

reciprocal so the United States can enjoy open access to African markets.

"The specific parameters of AGOA, of course, are ultimately a prerogative of Congress, and we look forward to working with them to put in place a program that reflects the reality of Africa's rise," Froman said.

Reuters

Tullow to Conduct Extensive Appraisal Drilling and Testing for Oil Production in Kenya

British firm, Tullow Oil Plc, says it will conduct extensive appraisal drilling and testing throughout year 2014 and 2015.

The objective of the extensive appraisal drilling and testing is to finalize a commercial production development report.

This report is what the government of Kenya wants. Nairobi wants to start selling oil as early as 2016 or 2017 and Tullow Plc must provide a comprehensive development report.

Speaking in Nairobi, Robin Sutherland, Tullow Oil Plc exploration manager for Sub Saharan Africa said the company is expected to submit a field development plan to the government of Kenya in the fourth quarter of 2015.

“We are expecting to submit our field development plans to the government in the fourth quarter of 2015,” Robin Sutherland told an oil and gas conference in Nairobi.

The appraisal drilling and testing will quantify the commercial viability thresholds; enable both the government and the investors to make projections.

Source:.intelligencebriefs.com/

  

Kenya's Airport financiers named

The prototype of the new terminal

Kenya’s government is in talks with four companies, including Standard Bank Group Ltd. (SBK), Africa’s biggest lender, about funding the construction of a $653 million Green field airport terminal, the Kenya Airports Authority said.

The state is in discussions with the African Development Bank, China Development Bank Corp. and Sunnyvale, California-based AAE Systems Inc. about funding 85 percent of the project cost, Managing Director Lucy Mbugua told reporters today in the capital, Nairobi. The first phase of construction of the new terminal in Nairobi will begin in July and is expected to end in 2017, she said.

“They have already given us their terms and we are in discussion,” Mbugua said.

Kenya is expanding its Jomo Kenyatta International Airport as it seeks to boost arrivals of tourists who are the second-biggest source of foreign-currency earnings in East Africa’s largest economy. The new terminal will have the capacity to handle 20 million passengers a year, compared with the 7 million that the existing terminal, built in 1978, can process.

From Bloomberg

Six DreamLiners for Kenya Airways this year

The Pride of Africa

Kenya Airways will take delivery of its first Boeing 787 on April 4, marking the first of six of the type to join its fleet in 2014.

Nairobi-based Kenya Airways said the new additions, which also include a 777-300ER slated for delivery in May, form a key part of its Project Mawingu 10-year growth strategy.

The aircraft will be used as part of a “deliberate effort” to step up Kenya Airways’ long-haul capacity, allowing the carrier to increase its number of direct flights, and add new destinations and frequencies.

“Routes to Paris, Amsterdam and Beijing are among the destinations earmarked for direct flights, as we continue exploring new markets that will be instrumental in helping us achieve our objective, to contribute toward the sustainable development of Africa,” Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni said.

Kenya Airways also recently confirmed plans to launch new budget carrier Jambo Jet on April 1.