Shell to Buy TotalEnergies' Stake in Nigerian Oil Field for $510 Million
Shell will buy TotalEnergies' stake in an oil field offshore Nigeria for $510 million, increasing its interest in the country's deep-water Bonga field. Shell said Thursday that it will buy TotalEnergies' 12.5% stake in the oil field by purchasing its portion of the production-sharing contract. In a separate release, TotalEnergies said it was selling the stake for $510 million.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
33 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Why Oil and Gas Stocks Rallied Today
OPEC+ increased supply in line with expectations, leading to a relief rally in oil prices. In addition, Ukraine's daring attack on Russia's long-range bomber fleet increased fears of a geopolitical incident that could further limit Russian oil supply. 10 stocks we like better than TotalEnergies › Shares of major international oil and oil-related stocks such as TotalEnergies (NYSE: TTE), APA (NASDAQ: APA), and oil tanker company Torm plc (NASDAQ: TRMD) rallied on Monday, with the stocks up 2.6%, 4.4%, and 3.4%, respectively, as of 12:45 p.m. ET. TotalEnergies has made strides to become more diversified into renewables, but it still gets over half its operating income from oil and gas upstream production. APA is primarily an upstream oil and gas explorer. And Torm is an oil and gas tanker company involved in global oil and gas transport. Today, oil and gas prices had a "relief rally," as the past weekend's OPEC+ cartel announcements of supply increases weren't as large as feared. Furthermore, Ukraine's daring strike against Russia's bomber fleet over the weekend could potentially escalate the war with Russia, throwing into question Russia's supply on the markets once again. Over the weekend, the OPEC+ cartel announced it would increase oil supply for the month of July by 411,000 barrels per day, an amount in line with expectations. Going into the weekend, some had feared OPEC+ would announce a larger increase. The OPEC+ countries had agreed to voluntary cuts in the neighborhood of 2.2 million barrels per day in January 2024 in order to support oil prices amid stalling growth and growing U.S. production. But in April, the cartel announced it would phase out those voluntary cuts, despite oil prices having fallen this year. While some had feared a bigger surge of production more quickly, it appears the cartel will be phasing in those supply increases more gradually. Additionally, oil prices can surge higher whenever there are geopolitical tensions in oil-producing states. In today's case, it's Russia. We all remember the big surge in oil prices back in 2022, in the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. While oil prices have come down this year on the back of tariff-related fears, and perhaps the Trump administration's more Russia-friendly stance leading to sanction relief, Ukraine's daring strike on Russia's long-range bomber fleet this past weekend has raised the prospect of a bigger Russian response. If Russia responds in a big way, it runs the risk of encountering even more sanctions, both on itself and other countries that buy oil from Russia. Russia is the third-largest producer of oil, supplying about 12% of global oil supply. So with that supply now somewhat in question after the past weekend's attack, that's also contributing to the oil price rise. It might seem odd that OPEC+ is increasing production, even though the price of oil has declined in the new year amid the prospect of a macroeconomic slowdown caused by the Trump administration's tariff war. There are potentially several reasons for this. First, some OPEC+ countries were cheating on their quotas anyway, so this is Saudi Arabia's way of punishing them. Second, Saudi Arabia might be trying to curry favor with the Trump administration, which wants lower oil prices and inflation. Third, Saudi Arabia may be moving to a price war strategy to force lower production in U.S. shale, given that Saudi Arabia has the lowest costs per barrel in the world. We actually saw this in the early days of the pandemic, when Saudi Arabia increased oil production even though the world was going into lockdowns, in an effort to bankrupt U.S. shale companies. While today's situation isn't as dire as that, the pivot to competing on price is still not a welcome development for most oil companies. Therefore, today's price increase might end up fleeting, as more production comes online and tariff uncertainty weighs on economic activity. That being said, oil and gas stocks could serve as a valuable hedge against a broader Russia-Ukraine war or increased geopolitical turmoil. So they serve as a valuable component of a diversified portfolio in that respect. Moreover, many oil and gas stocks also pay hefty dividends along the way, while also functioning as a portfolio hedge against that scenario. Before you buy stock in TotalEnergies, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and TotalEnergies wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $651,049!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $828,224!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 979% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of June 2, 2025 Billy Duberstein and/or his clients have positions in TotalEnergies. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Apa. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Why Oil and Gas Stocks Rallied Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
TechCrunch
2 hours ago
- TechCrunch
One of Africa's most successful founders is back with a new AI startup and already raised $9M
In 2023, co-founders Karim Jouini and Jihed Othmani sold their expense management startup Expensya to Swedish procurement software firm Medius in what is widely considered to be one of the largest acquisitions of an African startup. Some sources say the sum was just over $120 million, although deal terms were not disclosed. Success achieved, both founders swore off entrepreneurship, never intending to do another startup again and Jouini became a CTO role in the merged software company, with other acquisitions spanning three continents. But the pull of a new technological wave – generative AI – and the thought that they may be able to build something even bigger with them have drawn them back in. The two have now co-founded Thunder Code, a generative AI-powered software testing platform, which has already secured $9 million in seed funding, they told TechCrunch. 'It's pretty crazy because we promised not to do another company because Expensya was too hard,' Jouini told TechCrunch. 'But I think it's like when people have two kids, they forget how hard the first one was. This new venture is less than six months old and already super intense, but we're fired up. We're convinced this is unicorn material.' Jouini says his transition into head of technology at Medius reignited a spark he missed after years as Expensya's frontman. As he oversaw the integration of six companies across three continents, he saw firsthand how generative AI could reshape the software industry. Testing was a universal problem, no matter the product, a realization that seeded the idea for Thunder Code. Thunder Code tackles slow, manual testing with AI-powered 'agents' that mimic human testers. These agents simulate QA processes, catch subtle UI and UX issues, and learn from feedback. Techcrunch event Save now through June 4 for TechCrunch Sessions: AI Save $300 on your ticket to TC Sessions: AI—and get 50% off a second. Hear from leaders at OpenAI, Anthropic, Khosla Ventures, and more during a full day of expert insights, hands-on workshops, and high-impact networking. These low-rate deals disappear when the doors open on June 5. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | REGISTER NOW Determined to avoid Expensya's early missteps, Jouini prioritized speed. 'We shipped our first MVP in week six, and now the product is much more solid six months in than Expensya was in year four,' he said. This reflects a widely held belief in startup land that fast feedback trumps perfect plans. Thunder Code is already gaining traction, with paying customers and pilot programs across the U.S., Canada, France, and Tunisia. The company partners with delivery managers, QA shops, and developer teams eager to test and ship faster. Its current focus is web application testing, with plans to expand into mobile, desktop, and API testing by late 2025. Thunder Code team Image Credits:Thunder Code In addition to speed, Jouini's second rodeo also applies other hard-earned lessons from Expensya, like focusing on core features and getting the best talent as soon as possible. He's unapologetic about early dilution, as it relates to investing in top talent. 'A lot of African entrepreneurs are scared to dilute capital because they want to keep 100%. We believe that if we create a unicorn while diluting ourselves, that's good value,' he remarked. Jouini believes, however, that AI will let Thunder Code generate 10 times the value with fewer people, echoing the broader sentiment shift toward leaner AI-powered teams. Nevertheless, Jouini admits the jump from expense management to software developer tools was a leap despite the pain points feeling familiar. Yet, he sees software testing as a bigger, more complex market, projected to exceed $100 billion by 2027, still dominated by legacy code-based platforms like Tricentis and BrowserStack, that may be slow to adapt. He believes Thunder Code's fast execution with AI gives it an edge even against similar new agentic products. Thunder Code, headquartered in Paris with an office in Tunis, joins an increasingly crowded market of startups all attempting to do same with entrants ranged from UIPath to startups like Jetify, Nova AI. It helps that his co-founder, Othmani, brings deep expertise in generative AI, having built internal AI tools at Expensya years before ChatGPT made waves. Their complementary skills and the $9 million raised in six months position Thunder Code to move fast and capture market share, Jouini said. The funding round includes familiar faces from Expensya's cap table, including Silicon Badia and Jaango Capital, along with Titan Seed Fund and strategic angels like Roxanne Varza (Director of Station F) and Karim Beguir, CEO of Instadeep, Africa's biggest AI startup. Former and current Expensya employees who cashed out during the acquisition have also invested. 'Some of our investors are actually Expensya employees and I'm glad it worked out that way,' said Jouini.
Bloomberg
3 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Trump Can Rewrite the Narrative of America in Africa
In Africa, as in many other parts of the world, Donald Trump's policies have made him the embodiment of the pejorative stereotype of the ugly American – ignorant, arrogant and dangerous. He destroyed the 25-year-old African Growth and Opportunity Act, which granted African products duty-free entry to the US, imposing punishing tariffs on the continent. He canceled billions of dollars in aid, worth $12.7 billion in 2024. He angered African leaders with his White House ambush of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. And he's ramped up his previous insults against African nations by belittling countries such as Lesotho, an impoverished kingdom of 2.3 million, while nearly obliterating its economy with tariffs of 50%, the highest initially slapped on any country globally. Nevertheless, the US president has an opportunity to change the narrative without reversing any of the measures he's taken against Africa. Following their May 21 brawl, Ramaphosa announced that after months of proclaiming that neither he nor his officials would participate in the Johannesburg G-20 meetings this year, Trump will attend the all-important November summit after all.
