CAPE TOWN, South Africa, October 11, 2026/APO Group/ –African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 has officially kicked off with over 10,000 attendees convening in Cape Town for Africa’s biggest energy gathering of the year. Dubbed Africa’s premier dealmaking platform, the event has transitioned from a conference into a movement capable of reshaping the continent’s energy future. From government leaders and global energy majors to investors, financiers, national oil companies and technology providers, the industry has arrived in Cape Town to chart a new course for Africa’s energy development.

 




  

Technical Workshops Kick Off AEW Discussions

The AEW program has officially begun with the start of this year’s technical workshops. The 8th Meeting of the APPO NOCs CEOs’ Forum will bring African national oil companies together, while the Deal Room will give project sponsors and developers an opportunity to present active oil, gas, energy and infrastructure opportunities directly to investors and lenders.

The African Farmout Forum will showcase available acreage and farmout opportunities, while dedicated workshops and masterclasses will provide targeted engagement on markets, project finance and industry capacity. The Global Energy Leaders Forum will also put energy security, geopolitical realignment and investment at the center of discussions, examining how Africa can convert changing global energy flows into long-term contracts, final investment decisions and greater energy security.

Looking Ahead at AEW 2026

Over the coming days, AEW 2026 will explore opportunities emerging across the entire energy value chain in Africa. The AEW Townhall will bring governments and industry together around the strategic issues defining the continent’s energy future, while the Upstream E&P Forum will tackle licensing, exploration, drilling, M&A and production growth. The Energy Finance Forum, meanwhile, will put capital at the center of the conversation. The Energy Additions Forum will examine the infrastructure and resources required to expand reliable energy supply and support industrialization, while the Downstream & Petchem Forum will explore refining, fuels, petrochemicals and opportunities to capture more value from African resources.

A Global Conversation in Cape Town

Alongside its commercial program, AEW 2026 will convene some of the most consequential global energy discussions taking place this year. Targeted sessions include the OPEC-Africa Roundtable; the Russia-Africa Energy Investment Forum; and the Global Energy Leaders Forum. A series of roundtables will drill further into issues affecting project development. These include the Local Content Roundtable as well as ministerial and country-focused discussions that bring governments directly into conversations with investors and operators.

AEW will also expand beyond traditional energy discussions through two dedicated conferences. Renegade Intel will explore the convergence of energy, artificial intelligence, data centers and digital infrastructure, while Power Africa Today will tackle power-sector investment, transmission, storage, grid modernization and the reliable electricity supply required to support African industrialization.

Celebrating Music and Energy Progress

AEW 2026 goes beyond conference dialogue. The first day of the event will close with the Just Energy Transition Concert, the event’s official pre-conference networking icebreaker and cultural showcase. The African Energy Awards & Gala Dinner returns on Tuesday to celebrate the companies, projects and individuals helping drive the continent’s energy industry forward.

Technology and Innovation Take the Exhibition Floor

Running alongside the main conference, dedicated technical stages – The Drill Room and The Innovation Hub – will host specialized presentations on exploration, subsurface technologies, LNG, infrastructure, asset integrity and other operational challenges. The exhibition will serve as another commercial hub throughout the week, connecting operators, service companies, technology providers, governments and prospective partners.

“Ten thousand delegates have come to Cape Town because Africa is ready to move projects forward. AEW is Africa’s energy movement – where governments, investors and industry come together to turn resources into projects, projects into deals and deals into development. This week is about action, investment and building Africa’s energy future on African soil,” states NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa, October 10, 2026/APO Group/ –Venezuela will send an official government delegation to African Energy Week (AEW) 2026 in Cape Town, bringing senior figures from its Ministry of People’s Power for Hydrocarbons and its national university for oil and gas education to the continent’s premier energy event. The delegation includes Ricardo Gómez, Vice Minister of Commercial Policy; Celia Bejarano, Rector of the Universidad Venezolana de los Hidrocarburos (UVH); and Carlos Espinoza, a professional advisor in the Ministry’s petroleum division. The delegation’s participation marks the latest step in an Africa-Venezuela energy partnership that has gathered momentum throughout 2026.
 




 

In February, the African Energy Chamber (AEC) took a group of African energy leaders to Caracas. While there, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry and state oil company Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA). The agreement commits both sides to work together on upstream development and modernizing refineries. It also opens the door to shipping liquefied petroleum gas and bitumen to Africa and broadening technical training. Venezuela is an honorary member of the African Petroleum Producers Organization (APPO). It later sent Vice Minister Arturo Gil to Cape Town to build on the agreement.

AEW 2026 is built around dealmaking, with sessions spanning the full energy value chain and a clear focus on moving capital into projects. Senior Venezuelan representation in Cape Town gives African national oil companies and investors direct access to the officials driving Venezuela’s hydrocarbons revival and fosters workforce cooperation with the continent.

Ricardo Gómez heads the Vice Ministry of Commercial Policy, the office within the Ministry responsible for coordinating and advancing the sale of Venezuela’s hydrocarbons. His portfolio aligns closely with the MoU’s trade provisions, which identified liquefied petroleum gas and bitumen as potential exports to Africa. Venezuela’s resource base gives the trade relationship considerable depth, with the country holding some 300 billion barrels of oil reserves and large volumes of natural gas.

Celia Bejarano leads UVH, Venezuela’s public university for hydrocarbons education, headquartered in Los Teques. The university has become a cornerstone of the Africa-Venezuela partnership. During an AEC working visit to Caracas, the Chamber and UVH worked through how African engineers could train at the university. The AEC has since committed to sending 10 to 15 participants from across Africa through dedicated technical programs at UVH, drawing on Venezuela’s decades of producing heavy crude onshore and developing offshore fields.

“When we went to Caracas in February, we said the relationship had to go both ways. Now Venezuela is coming to Cape Town, and I want our companies to make the most of it, whether that means trade in gas and bitumen or getting more of our young engineers trained at the university,” said NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the AEC.

The Caracas MoU also set up a joint working group tasked with pinpointing investment prospects and lining up projects for African and Venezuelan companies. AEW 2026 gives the partnership’s African counterparts a platform to engage the delegation in person as the work moves forward.

African Energy Week 2026 takes place October 12-16 at the Cape Town International Convention Center. To register as a delegate, visit  https://apo-opa.co/4zr7ekJ.

 

PEMBA, Mozambique, October 9, 2026/APO Group/ –SLB (NYSE: SLB) (www.SLB.com) announced the opening of a new fluids systems plant in Pemba, Mozambique. The new facility strengthens in-country capacity to prepare, store and deliver drilling and completion fluids for offshore operations, reinforcing the infrastructure needed as Mozambique’s offshore activity grows and its role as a strategic energy hub for East Africa continues to expand.

The commissioning of the plant, also known as a liquid mud plant, coincides with SLB marking 70 years of operations in Mozambique. It reflects the company’s long-term commitment to investing in people, infrastructure and capability that support the country’s long-term offshore energy development plans.

 




  

With an initial storage capacity of 21,000 barrels, the liquid mud plant provides a scalable platform for future growth, supporting multiple customers and rising offshore activity while improving logistics and enhancing operational flexibility.

“As SLB marks 70 years in Mozambique, this investment reflects our confidence in the country’s future and our commitment to supporting its energy ambitions,” said Miguel Baptista, Central, East and Southern Africa, Managing Director, SLB. The new liquid mud plant strengthens local energy infrastructure, expands opportunities for local content development, and enhances our ability to support customers as they deliver some of Africa’s most significant offshore energy resources.”

The liquid mud plant project was delivered with strong local participation and that momentum is expected to continue into operations. During project delivery, more than 100 jobs were created in Pemba with nationals representing 80% of the workforce, reflecting a focus on building local capability.

The project was delivered with a strong focus on safety, operational integrity, and quality, achieving more than 67,000 hours worked without a recordable safety incident.

This key infrastructure strengthens SLB’s ability to support consistent service quality and enhance supply chain readiness for increasing offshore activity across Mozambique, supporting customers execute safely and efficiently while developing local skills and expertise.

Key Points:

• SLB has commissioned a new fluids system plant in Pemba, expanding in-country drilling and completion fluids capability for offshore operations.
• With an initial storage capacity of 21,000 barrels, the facility provides a scalable platform to support growing offshore activity in Mozambique.
• The investment marks the next phase of SLB’s growth in Mozambique, strengthening local capability and supporting long-term offshore energy development.