Energy
Siemens, Mitsubishi Heavy Consider Joint Bid for Alstom Assets
FRANKFURT — Siemens AG will decide by Monday whether to bid for the energy assets of France’s Alstom SA and exit the train business, marking a strategic shift. But big course changes are routine for the 166-year-old company, which started in the telegraph business.
Over the past two decades, Siemens has shed divisions making computers, phones, cellphone networks, light bulbs, car parts and semiconductors while becoming a world leader in wind turbines. The German industrial conglomerate said Wednesday it would work with Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd to assess a potential pitch for the Alstom operation.
Siemens’s willingness to unload what had been considered core assets is a hallmark of its desire to invest in industries where it holds a technical edge or it sees growth prospects. Managers display little emotion toward operations, sometimes selling only a few years after entering a field, and seek partnerships to share costs for operations that lack synergy with the rest of the group.
Siemens and Mitsubishi last month, for example, struck a joint venture combining their metals subsidiaries. A day earlier Siemens said it would buy most of Rolls-Royce Holdings RR.LN -5.48% PLC’s energy division and said it would consider listing shares in its own health-care unit.
The medical unit, which makes hospital equipment such as X-ray scanners and ultrasound machines, could represent an even bigger deal for Siemens than the Alstom transaction, which is preliminarily valued at up to €11 billion ($14.9 billion). Siemens’s health-care unit accounts for more than one-third of the company’s €84 billion total market value, analysts estimate.
Siemens invited Mitsubishi to join its appraisal of Alstom, which has tentatively approved a bid from General Electric Co. GE -1.00% GE’s offer values Alstom’s energy and rail divisions at $17 billion, but French government officials have objected to the U.S. company controlling what they see as strategic national assets. Mitsubishi’s participation could help Siemens allay European antitrust concerns while putting more heft behind its offer.
Siemens has completed due diligence of Alstom, Siemens Chief Executive Joe Kaeser said recently. “We will make up our minds what that means for us,” he said. “There are opportunities and risks.”
Siemens buys and sells assets frequently, and many of its moves have been shrewd.
In 1999 the company sold shares in Epcos AG, a maker of electronic components, when the electronics industry was booming. A year later Siemens floated 29% of chip-making subsidiary Infineon AG through an initial public offering and another stake soon after. Infineon shares shortly lost almost 65% of their value and haven’t recovered.
In 2005, Siemens paid Taiwan-based BenQ Corp. of Taiwan €250 million to take over the German company’s cellular-handset division. A year later, BenQ sought bankruptcy protection for the unit.
Siemens in 2007 sold its VDO car-component unit to German car-parts maker Continental AG for €11 billion, just before the European car market hit a multiyear skid.
In 2008, Siemens contributed its corporate phone-system business to a joint venture with Gores Group LLC. The combined company, now called Unify Inc., said this month it would slash half its workforce as demand drops for traditional phone systems.
Siemens that same year transferred its cordless-phone unit to Arques Industries AG of Germany at undisclosed terms. Shares of Arques, which later renamed itself Gigaset AG, have plunged to around €1 from above €6 at the time of the deal.
Not all of Siemens’s moves have been so well-timed. It started to exit the cellular-network business in 2007 by entering a joint venture with Finland’s Nokia Corp. But it took six years for the German company to extricate itself completely. That was too late, because prices already had peaked, said Christoph Niesel, a fund manager with Germany’s Union Investment, which holds a stake of around 1% in Siemens.
Siemens last year spun off light-bulb maker Osram Licht AG, and its shares peaked this March at more than twice their listing price. That gain could have gone to Siemens shareholders had the company waited to make the listing, Mr. Niesel said.
Now Mr. Kaeser faces similar concerns over timing. Siemens said it contributed its division that builds steel plants to the joint venture with Mitsubishi because of “the challenging market environment and high price pressure.”
Siemens’s rail division, which Mr. Kaeser has proposed giving to Alstom as partial payment for the French company’s energy division, and the rest of Siemens’s transportation-and-logistics operation was unprofitable in the fiscal year through September.
The health-care division, in contrast, is very profitable but lacks synergies with Siemens’s other businesses. Mr. Kaeser has indicated that he sees potential takeover targets in the sector but that they are at higher values than he is willing to pay. Listing stock in the medical division would allow him to pay for acquisitions with the shares.
“We would float health care in parts and then be able to acquire companies with similar multiples,” he told investors recently.
– WALLSTREET JOURNAL
The Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company Limited (SNEPCo) has completed the turnaround maintenance on the Bonga Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel, leading to resumption of production at Nigeria’s premier deepwater field on March 6, 2026.
Biztellers reports that the project was delivered 11 days ahead of schedule and without any safety incident, reinforcing SNEPCo’s longstanding commitment to operational excellence and asset integrity.
“Completing the turnaround safely and ahead of schedule is a testament to the dedication and professionalism of our Nigerian workforce and the helpful support of our partners,” SNEPCo Managing Director Ronald Adams said. “The achievement not only secures the long‑term integrity of the Bonga FPSO but also positions us strongly for the successful delivery of the Bonga North project, which will leverage the improved reliability of the FPSO.”
The exercise which began on February 1, 2026, highlights SNEPCo’s leading role in advancing deep‑water expertise in Nigeria. Of the 55 companies involved in the execution, 43 were wholly Nigerian. Additionally, eight of the 12 international service providers maintain operational bases in Nigeria, contributing to knowledge transfer and increased local investments.
More than 1,000 personnel worked offshore during the turnaround, with over 95% being Nigerians involved in maintenance, engineering, operations, inspection and construction. Thousands more supported activities from onshore locations, reflecting the depth of Nigerian capability in offshore oil and gas operations.
Adams added: “We acknowledge the support of several stakeholders towards the successful execution of the exercise, including the NNPC Upstream Investment Management Services (NUIMS), the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and our partners.”
Modupe Asudo
Sahara Group, a leading global energy and infrastructure conglomerate, has commissioned MT Asharami Ghana, a 40,000‑cubic‑metre Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) carrier, expanding its fleet capacity, while strengthening Ghana’s clean energy supply chain and LPG distribution network.
The dual‑fuel vessel improves operational efficiency, enhances supply reliability, and supports lower‑emission LPG logistics as consumption grows across Ghana and the wider sub‑region.
Ghanaian President Mahama and Sahara Executive Directors
Speaking at the commissioning in Ulsan, South Korea, President John Dramani Mahama described the vessel as “a significant milestone in strengthening the infrastructure that underpins the global LPG supply chain,” noting that expanded shipping capacity is critical to improving supply security, reliability and efficiency for countries that rely partly on LPG imports.
He commended Sahara Group, WAGL Energy and all partners involved for their “leadership, technical expertise and strategic foresight,” adding that the project reflects “the power of partnership” in advancing safe, efficient, and responsible energy distribution.
President Mahama wished the MT Asharami Ghana safe sails, expressing confidence that the vessel would inspire further investment and collaboration across Africa’s energy value chain.
According to Wale Ajibade, Executive Director, Sahara Group, the vessel supports Ghana’s clean energy ambitions through integrated infrastructure.
“MT Asharami Ghana is more than a vessel; it is part of a deliberate strategy to strengthen LPG supply security and support Ghana’s clean energy ambitions. It secures an additional 25,000-Metric-tonne stock security for the Ghana economy, alongside the soon to be commissioned 6000-metric-tonee of 12.000-metric-tonne land storage in Tema,” he said.
With the addition of Asharami Ghana, Sahara Group’s LPG carrier fleet now comprises six delivered vessels with a combined capacity of 202,000 cubic metres. Supported by partnerships with WAGL Energy, NNPC Limited and other stakeholders, an additional 270,000 cubic metres of capacity is under construction and due for delivery by September 2028.
Temitope Shonubi, Executive Director, Sahara Group, said Asharami Ghana is part of Sahara’s integrated LPG infrastructure strategy spanning shipping, storage, and downstream distribution globally, including the development of a 12,000‑metric‑tonne land‑based LPG storage terminal in Tema, with a 6,000‑metric‑tonne first phase scheduled for completion in May 2026.
He thanked Yaa Serwaa Alifo, MD of Asharami Ghana, for her resilience and insistence to dedicate a ship of “this magnitude solely to the Ghana Market and its landlocked neighbours.”
Ghana is targeting LPG adoption of 50 per cent of households by 2030, up from about 30 per cent today. Sahara’s investments will support clean energy access for more than 35 million people, while strengthening Ghana’s role in regional LPG trade to neighbouring and landlocked West African markets.
The commissioning comes in Sahara Group’s 30th anniversary year, guided by the Sahara Beyond XXX milestone, underscoring Sahara’s focus on building an enduring enterprise that delivers responsible growth, shared prosperity and long‑term impact across its markets.
Nigeria’s crude oil production dropped to 1.31 million barrels per day in February, even as local refineries continue to grapple with inadequate domestic crude supply needed to sustain operations.
The development shows that Nigeria again failed to meet its crude oil production quota of 1.5 million barrels per day approved by the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), as output declined sharply in February 2026.
Data from OPEC’s latest Monthly Oil Market Report, based on direct communication from member countries, showed that Nigeria produced 1.314 million barrels per day in February, down from 1.459 mbpd recorded in January.
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The figures indicate a month-on-month decline of 146,000 barrels per day, widening the country’s shortfall from its OPEC production allocation.
Nigeria’s inability to meet its OPEC production quota is not only affecting its oil export earnings but also adversely impacting domestic refineries that are starved of feedstock for their operations.
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