Oil Marketer Says Africa Needs to Refine its Oil
Ethiopia's leading private oil marketer plans to expand into neighboring east African economies and is interested in part financing a refinery after commercial discoveries in the region. Tadesse Tilahun, CEO of National Oil Ethiopia, said untapped crude deposits in Kenya and Uganda handed governments and investors the opportunity to construct a refinery able to compete with cheap imports from India, the Gulf and beyond. Doing so would help African countries extract more value from their resources and cut their import bills, Tadesse said. "Africa's demand for refined products is growing hugely because of its economic growth. The crude findings are also increasing. That is the opportunity," Tadesse said in Addis Ababa as part of the Reuters Africa Summit. "We want to (build) a refinery.
Gulf of Mexico Drilling Contract a Record Breaker for Maersk
Maersk Drilling say a new $610 million Gulf of Mexico drilling contract was at the highest daily rates it has ever had for a rig Maersk informed Reuters Africa that the three-year contract for a job starting in 2014 is for the first in a series of four identical ultra deepwater drillships currently under construction in South Korea for Maersk Drilling. The basic daily rate under the contract is $548,000, but the rate could rise to $585,000-$590,000 if all bonuses are paid, Maersk Drilling head of strategy and communication Michael Harboe-Jorgensen told Reuters. "This is the highest rate we have seen for our ultra deepwater units," Harboe-Jorgensen said.
TMT Diverting Tankers Due to piracy
According to a Reuters Africa report, Taiwan's TMT, one of Asia's biggest shipping firms, is diverting its large fleet of operated oil tankers via the Cape of Good Hope because of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, a company spokesman said on Tuesday, Nov. 25. (Source: Reuters Africa)
