China's Addax locked in $1 billion oil dispute with Gabon

Top Chinese refiner Sinopec's Addax Petroleum is embroiled in a legal dispute with Gabon over an oilfield in which claims and counter claims total more than $1 billion, sources familiar with the confidential proceedings said.

The case adds to questions about whether African enthusiasm for Chinese investment in the continent's resources is fading after an iron ore project in Gabon was placed under review and separately three Chinese licences were revoked in Zambia's coal sector.

Gabon conducted audits in 2011 and 2012 of the hydrocarbons sector, which pumps around 240,000 barrels per day and accounts for 80 percent of the Central African country's export earnings.

Sinopec Pursues Oilfield Service

State-owned China Petrochemical Corp., (or Sinopec Group) − the parent company of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (SNP or Sinopec Corp.) − has formed a new oilfield service unit to facilitate its upstream oil and gas operations in China and other countries. The international market of the new entity − Sinopec Oilfield Service Corp. − include North America, the Middle East, Africa, Central Asia and South East Asia.

With a total $12.2 billion (76.6 billion yuan) worth of fixed asset and 140,000 employees, this unit was launched at Beijing while restructuring the service departments of eight secondary oilfields such as Shengli, Zhongyuan and Jianghan. The company expects this oilfield service arm to collect $15.2 billion (95 billion yuan) of revenue in 2012. It has already gathered $14.2 billion worth of 480 contracts in 43 countries.

Recently, Sinopec Group created an engineering and construction arm − Sinopec Engineering (Group) Co Ltd − for its refining and petrochemical operation. This unit is expected to be listed by next year in Hong Kong. Sinopec Oilfield Service is also expected to be listed eventually, but the company did not give any specific timeline for it.

27 oil workers rescued

A combined team of naval and army forces stormed the hideout of a militant gang operating on the waters of oil-producing Cross River State and rescued 27 abducted oil workers, navy spokesman, Lt. Commander Ajibola Olabisi.

 According to Olabisi, "It was a joint military operation involving the navy and the army. Twenty-seven oil workers were rescued, while one is still missing”. He said 28 workers of Sinopec, an oil-servicing company, had been kidnapped in Ikang near the state capital Calabar by an armed gang called the Lactop Marine Force. Members of the gang had been terrorizing residents of the area for a long time before the troops moved in to dislodge them.

Olabisi said that "the criminals fled as soon as our men stormed their hideout. Nobody was either killed or injured during the operation," he said, adding that the military were on the trail of the kidnappers.