• Vivo Energy takes over Shell Ghana Limited.
• Vitol in talks to buy $137 mln stake in Gabon oil – Vitol S.A. is in exclusive talks to buy a $137 million stake in an offshore licence in Gabon, the seller Harvest Natural Resources Inc said on Monday, deepening the Swiss-based oil trader’s presence in West Africa, .
• Vitol signed a long-term contract to export oil from Gabon in February, complementing its existing position as a marketer of oil and offshore bloc stakeholder in Nigeria and Ghana. It also has interests in offshore fields in Ivory Coast and Cameroon.
• Brazil agriculture ministry forecasts record high soybean harvest in 2013-14.
• The Bureau of Customs (BOC) and top global shipment verification and inspection expert Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) S.A. which is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, have teamed up to formulate a common platform for the enhanced security, integrity, promotion, and performance of the oil industry in the country. The initial effort, focused on the efficient inspection and taxation of inbound petroleum products, have been made in a recent three-day seminar workshop organized by the BOC in partnership with SGS and attended by top Customs officials especially those in ports that handle oil import shipments.
• Algeria to breathe new life into hydrocarbon sector – Algeria’s oil and natural gas production is likely to double over the next decade as fields that have as yet not been explored, come online, Bloomberg quoted the country’s energy minister as saying.
• JV signed to build R2bn Saldanha Bay crude oil facility
Oiltanking Grindrod Calulo Holdings (OTGC), a subsidiary of Germany’s Oiltanking group, and Mining, Oil and Gas Services (MOGS) on Wednesday announced a joint venture (JV) agreement to construct a R2-billion commercial crude oil storage and blending terminal at the Saldanha Bay port.
• The terminal would have a capacity of 13.2-million barrels, comprising twelve 1.1-million barrel concrete tanks.