Issue 222 - 16 December 2011

UGANDA

Uganda in the dark after leak stalls Bujagali hydro project yet again

With power cuts causing riots in Kampala, and the start-up of a long-awaited hydro-electric power project delayed for the fourth time this year, Uganda is in for a difficult dry season, writes Adrian J Browne
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LIBYA

NOC probes IOCs, blocks PSC

Post-Qadhafi Libya’s oil sector will focus on enhanced oil recovery, environmental protection and community support, National Oil Corporation (NOC) chairman Nuri Berouin has told recent visitors. 
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EGYPT

Delayed BP project might not bode well for Egypt’s upcoming gas bidding round

Failure to address local environmental concerns and RWE’s divestment programme are hampering the development of gas in the West Nile Delta concessions, writes Nadine Marroushi in Cairo
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Issue 221 - 2 December 2011

GHANA

Oil flows boost election-year budget, but Ghana faces longer wait for gas

With oil production well under way, Ghanaians are looking to see what benefits will reach them in terms of gas supply and local content. The need for gas infrastructure is increasingly pressing, but the government’s pledge to have a processing plant up and running by end-2012 looks unlikely, writes Thalia Griffiths in Accra
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SENEGAL

Timis moves into Senegal

African Petroleum Corporation has snapped up two Senegalese blocks lying either side of its Gambia acreage, increasing its footprint in a region otherwise dominated by bigger players.
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ALGERIA

‘New dawn’ beckons as Zerguine replaces Cherouati as head of Algerian hydrocarbons giant

Employees, other Algerian and international industry players are waiting to see if the new PDG can restore morale and speed up decision-making at Sonatrach, writes Jon Marks in Algiers, with John Hamilton and Oualid Khelifi
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LIBYA

Ghanem cautions against rush to new institutions

The current managers of Libya’s oil sector should not make hasty decisions about its structure, says former National Oil Corporation chairman Dr Shukri Ghanem
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Issue 220 - 18 November 2011

Jubilee a tough act to follow as IOCs confront disappointment and politics in Transform Margin

Undaunted by the latest salvo in the long-running border dispute between Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, companies active in the West African Transform Margin are pushing ahead with exploration. But emulating Tullow’s record is proving harder than several IOCs had hoped, writes Thalia Griffiths in Accra
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SOUTH AFRICA

Decision time for SA renewables bids

There have been too many false dawns as South Africa realities have failed to live up to the rhetoric of electricity supply industry liberalisation or diversification into renewables, but the 53 bids received by the Department of Energy (DoE) in the first round of bidding to build renewable power plants have raised hopes that major privately financed wind and solar projects will finally go ahead (AE 215/24, 214/7). DoE director-general Nelisiwe Magubane has emphasised that projects must be completed by 2016.
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ALGERIA

Cherouati fights for job in Algiers

There is intense speculation that further change will follow at Sonatrach, with former pipelines vice president (VP) Abdelhamid Zerguine – who now heads the Algerian state energy giant’s subsidiary in Lugano, Switzerland, said to be in line to replace unpopular president director-general (PDG) Nordine Cherouati. Sources said Cherouati had been dismissing the story as a rumour and telling people not to believe it.
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MOZAMBIQUE

Eni ‘to invest $50bn’ in Mozambique gas

It has drilled only one well, but the extent of Eni’s ambitions for its gas find in Mozambique’s Offshore Area 4 are becoming apparent, with the Italian major’s chief executive, Paolo Scaroni, telling one interviewer it could invest $50bn in developing the discovery and building infrastructure to export the gas to Asia (AE 219/15).
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ALGERIA

Signs of a thaw as Algiers plans better terms for IOCs, moots major gas development measures

After five years of resource nationalism and three unsuccessful licensing rounds, the Algerian government may be preparing to improve commercial terms for conventional oil and gas exploration, and is looking to promote non-conventional projects, writes John Hamilton in Madrid with African Energy correspondents in Algiers.
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South-west gas developments poised to go ahead

Another problem for energy planners in Algeria is that some proposed projects – even those essential for the long-term sustainability of gas reserves – may not be commercial. 
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COTE D'IVOIRE/GHANA

Côte d’Ivoire escalates Ghana border row

Côte d’Ivoire has escalated a simmering border row with Ghana by demarcating new blocks that overlap with Ghana’s western acreage. 
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NIGERIA

Nigeria seeks $50bn in foreign investment to reactivate power sector

With generation capacity finally creeping upwards, the federal government is turning to foreign investors to provide the huge sums needed to overcome crippling power shortages.  But targets still remain both ambitious and insufficient, writes David Slater in Abuja
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CBN supports naira to reassure nervous investors

Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi used The Economist’s 20 October Nigeria Summit in Abuja to stress that the naira would not be devalued – in a move to reassure investors worried about continued instability. 
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Shell faces US lawsuits

Royal Dutch Shell is facing two lawsuits over its operations in the Niger Delta, three months after a United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) report condemned the oil major for environmental damage and recommended it foots the $1bn clean-up bill (AE 215/20).
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Issue 218 - 21 October 2011

UGANDA

Museveni’s opponents seize on oil issue to press for genuine change in Ugandan business

Uganda’s dynamic new parliament has hit out at the perceived lack of transparency in the oil sector, demanding full disclosure of contracts seen as controlled by the president’s inner circle. With everything from local land rights to military aircraft sales under scrutiny, the veteran president is under pressure ahead of crude production coming on stream, write Adrian J Browne and Thalia Griffiths
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Land rights controversy adds to potent mix in Uganda

The issue of land ownership is a major factor in the Ugandan oil and politics equation. During the grilling of National Resistance Movement grandees in parliament on 12 October, Buliisa MP Stephen Biraahwa Mukitale named a senior agent of the government’s Internal Security Organisation, Major Herbert Asiimwe Muramagi, as one of those accused by locals of attempting to illegally acquire land near the Taitai well in Kigorobya.
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IMF relations back on track

Normally good relations with the International Monetary Fund have been restored after a brief hiatus. The IMF had announced in February, in language dry even by its standards, that Uganda “did not complete the first review under the three-year Policy Support Instrument (PSI)”.
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LIBYA

Billions sought in Libya reparations

Hundreds of businesses, including many oil service providers, engineering and construction companies, are preparing to make billions of dollars-worth of claims against the new Libyan government for losses and damage sustained during the six-month revolution.
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All eyes on Liberia as new West Africa drilling season kicks off

A string of wells are due offshore West Africa by year-end, with Ghana’s neighbours hoping to emulate its success in pursuing the Transform Margin play. Liberia is particularly in the spotlight, while Côte d’Ivoire is seeing work resume following the lifting of force majeure restrictions, writes Thalia Griffiths
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EAST AFRICA

Piracy spreads down the East African coast

The Swahili coast’s upstream petroleum industry is taking shape as pirates step up their activity in an ever wider area. The US military is playing an active role, but new offshore infrastructure is vulnerable, writes Adrian J Browne
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KENYA

Total makes Kenya grab

Total has made a concerted effort to catch up with its Anglo-Saxon rivals in East Africa, with a farm-in to Anadarko’s five blocks offshore Kenya following recent acquisitions onshore Tanzania and in Uganda. The company still has a 32.5% operated stake in Block B, in what is now South Sudan.
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Issue 215 - 9 September 2011

Anadarko takes the lead in race to East African LNG as Mozambique gas discoveries line up

The scale of gas finds offshore Mozambique and Tanzania suggests there are reserves to support two LNG plants, if Anadarko and BG can capture Asian markets in the face of competition from Australia, writes Adrian J Browne
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LIBYA

Libya’s interim energy administration assesses likely production

As the new regime in Tripoli establishes its authority, Libya urgently needs to restart oil production. A potentially divisive mix of old and new faces is emerging to take charge of the sector, writes John Hamilton
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Trader Vitol’s role in Libya’s revolution

Geneva-based oil trading firm Vitol’s fuel supply deal to the National Transitional Council during its six-month uprising against Colonel Muammar Qadhafi’s regime has attracted admiration, criticism and envy.
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