Below you will find a selection of articles, maps and sample issues from African Energy’s extensive archive.
These resources have been made freely available to non-subscribers to further demonstrate the range and quality of African Energy’s coverage. Visitors are encouraged to view the articles and maps and download the sample PDF issues but are politely reminded that this content is for personal use only and may not be reproduced or redistributed without prior authorisation. For a flavour of our latest coverage, visit our Section pages available from the left-hand side of this page.
Sample PDFs
Issue 134, 7 March 2008
Issue 139, 23 May 2008
High-resolution map samples
Please note the sample high-resolution maps below have all subsequently been updated and coloured. The most recent high-resolution versions of these maps are only available to subscribers. Low-resolution versions can be viewed at the African Energy map library.
These high resolution samples will open a new window. You can enlarge the map by either: clicking on it when the cursor changes to a magnifiyng glass symbol, maximising the window, dragging the bottom right hand corner, or any combination of these.
Angola’s offshore oil industry – November 2006 (issue 104)
Sudan’s growing oil industry – October 2006 (issue 103)
Morocco: Oil industry, electricity grid and other key infrastructure – August 2006 (issue 101)
Sample Articles
Focus • Power • Upstream oil & gas • Downstream hydrocarbons & markets
Finance & policy • African Energy View
Tullow mulls alternative ways to bring Namibia’s Kudu field to development
After trying for years to get a deal together for a regional gas-to-power project, Tullow Oil is now considering alternative markets for gas that might be produced from Namibia’s offshore Kudu field. But power generation remains the absolute priority for NamPower, as the Namibian utility evolves its strategy to cope with the southern African electricity supply crisis, writes Thalia Griffiths.
Issue 145, 5 September 2008. Read the full article
Nigeria unveils master plan to harness the ‘unbelievable’ potential of gas
Nigerian energy officials have taken important steps to move forward key policy goals, despite reports of delays and in-fighting across the Yar’Adua administration. Key developments include finalising new financing structures for joint ventures, discussed in Upstream oil and gas below, and unveiling the new Nigerian gas master plan – in the process giving details of how much gas operators will be required to set aside for the domestic market.
Issue 139, 23 May 2008. Read the full article
Chinese contracts add to demands on DRC power
DRC and a Chinese consortium have signed a multi-billion dollar convention covering mining and infrastructure projects. The figures involved are vast, underlining the growing domination of Chinese interests in Congo, which has left western companies fearful that their mining and other projects could be in jeopardy, for lack of power, as well as from threatened contract reviews and revisions, writes François Misser with Jon Marks.
Issue 139, 23 May 2008. Read the full article
South Africa promotes domestic CCS research
South Africa is keen to promote research into carbon capture and storage, which will help it to exploit its huge CO2 storage capacity. It is also hoping to attract foreign investment alongside domestic private funds to finance a research centre to promote the technology, writes François Misser in Brussels.
Issue 138, 9 May, 2008. Read the full article
TOP
Boom time for ‘interim solutions’ providers
Southern Africa’s power crisis and chronic capacity shortages throughout the continent have consolidated the boom for short-term providers of generation in a host of sub-Saharan economies. With big profits to be made, the ‘interim solutions’ marketplace is getting fuller and more varied, writes François Misser.
Issue 144, 1 August 2008. Read the full article
Madagascar’s hydroelectric expansion plans open up prospects for IPPs
Madagascar is opening up to private projects, with several schemes already under way, government and Jirama officials told François Misser.
The Antananarivo government is keen to develop independent power projects and is handing out concessions for hydropower sites on a first come first served basis, according to Ministry of Energy and Mines secretary general Hugues Février Rajaonson. Sites with less than 50MW capacity can be developed as soon as an offtake price has been negotiated with regulator Office de Regulation de l’Electricité and utility Jiro Sy Rano Malagasy (Jirama). Above 50MW, the decision will depend on the results of tenders.
Issue 144, 1 August 2008. Read the full article
Angola’s ENE looks to reform and development
While no decisions are expected until after September’s elections, major reforms are in the pipeline for the state power utility to enable it to deliver the power produced from planned new generation projects, writes François Misser, recently in Luanda.
Issue 142, 4 July, 2008. Read the full article
Nigeria’s ‘season of probes’ delays power financing among host of schemes
The latest initiative to revitalise Nigeria’s power infrastructure is on hold because of one of the many government investigations now under way, as President Yar’Adua’s government and parliamentarians tackle the darker side of their former sponsor Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, writes Thalia Griffiths.
Issue 138, 9 May, 2008. Read the full article
AES drops IPP plans as Eskom looks to price hikes to tackle supply crisis
Eskom is increasing its imports and has approved another major pumped storage project, but the medium-term supply situation remains very tight – and the prospects of drawing in new investment are not helped by the failure of the government’s planned independent power project.
Issue 136, 11 April, 2008. Read the full article
TOP
Somaliland lies in waiting as Somalia struggles
Somaliland has had some success at attracting companies to explore for oil, but is burdened by Somalia’s troubles and by its lack of international recognition, writes Nadine Marroushi.
Issue 146, 22 September, 2008. Read the full article
Algeria launches long-awaited licensing round
The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) has issued the timetable for the seventh licensing round, inviting prequalified companies to bid for acreage in “different Algerian sedimentary petroleum basins offering a high potential in petroleum resources.” The schedule, with bids due by 3 December, will allow MEM and regulator Agence Nationale pour la Valorisation des Hydrocarbures (Alnaft) to meet their target of completing the round this year (AE 142/17, 140/1).
Issue 143, 18 July, 2008. Read the full article
Equatorial Guinea gets tough in battle to maximise advantage before reserves run out
In publicly attacking its biggest oil producer and main gas buyer Gabriel Nguema Lima has given voice to concerns that pioneering contracts to develop the industry were too favourable to IOCs, but also that Malabo must do everything possible to maximise its returns as reserves dwindle, writes Jon Marks.
Issue 141, 20 June, 2008. Read the full article
Tanzania welcomes Australians to onshore, eco issues loom
As the East African hydrocarbons race heats up, Tanzania has found bidders for four onshore blocks, but in opening up a new oil province they will have to consider the needs of local communities and the country’s vital tourist industry, writes Thalia Griffiths.
Issue 139, 23 May, 2008. Read the full article
How BP’s Libya deal got back on track
The ratification of BP’s $900m gas exploration contract with National Oil Corporation (NOC) returns British relations with Libya to an even keel. As African Energy exclusively reported in November, Libyan Leader Muammar Qadhafi halted the deal to pressure the UK into allowing Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohammed Al-Megrahi to be repatriated (AE 126/1).
Issue 132, 8 February 2008. Read the full article
TOP
| Downstream hydrocarbons & markets: |
Arzew LNG EPC goes to Snamprogetti, Chiyoda
Low bidder Petrofac/IKPT has lost the Arzew LNG train contract to a joint venture of Italy’s Saipem/Snamprogetti and Japan’s Chiyoda. The E2.8bn ($4.4bn) engineering, procurement and construction contract is for a single train gas liquefaction plant, with a capacity of 4.7m t/yr, to be built near Arzew, about 400km west of Algiers. Work is due for completion by the end of 2012. After the commercial bid opening, Sonatrach gave Petrofac and Indonesia’s IKPT ten days to provide the relevant guarantees, including documents from process licensor APCI and machinery supplier General Electric/Nuovo Pignone. However, Sonatrach said these were insufficient, and the quoted construction price had risen from AD241bn ($4bn) to AD257bn.
Issue 144 - 1 August 2008. Read the full article
Nigeria’s GTL financing milestone
A N26bn ($220m) financing agreement for the Escravos gas-to-liquids (GTL) project was signed on 21 June between a consortium of Nigerian banks and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and its joint venture partner Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN).
Issue 142, 4 July, 2008. Read the full article
Equity not project finance holds key to Angola LNG
Equity investment by the Angola LNG partners, rather than any major debt financing operation, is expected to fund the lion’s share of the Soyo liquefaction plant’s development, writes Kevin Godier.
Issue 140, 6 June, 2008. Read the full article
LIBYA: Oilinvest reconsiders Tamoil sale
Oilinvest Group’s new chief executive Isam Zanati has sought to dampen speculation that the state-owned group is looking for a new strategic investor for Tamoil. A number of reports have raised this possibility since the collapse in March of negotiations with Los Angeles-based private equity group Colony Capital, which had provisionally agreed to buy Tamoil for $6.3bn in June 2007 (AE 116/18).
Issue 139 • 23 May, 2008. Read the full article
Abu Qir bidding points to intense competition for gas reserves to feed domestic and export demand
The race for a stake in the Abu Qir gas field, plans for a second LNG train at Damietta and fresh investment from Italy show that Petroleum Minister Sameh Fahmy’s willingness to negotiate higher prices for gas sold locally has won Egypt renewed favour with IOCs – but the price to pay is a growing subsidies bill, writes Nadine Marroushi.
Issue 137, 25 April, 2008. Read the full article
TOP
Edmonds floats biofuels venture
Philippe Edmonds’ latest venture, BioEnergy Africa Ltd, floated on London’s Alternative Investment Market on 1 September. The company, formed to develop the production of ethanol from sugar cane projects in southern Africa, raised £8.6m ($15.3m) through a placing of new shares, giving it a market capitalisation of some £41.5m. The funds raised will be used to develop Edmonds’ 30,000ha Massingir Fuel Ethanol Project in Mozambique’s southern Gaza province, and to pursue other opportunities. Nominated adviser for the listing was Seymour Pierce Ltd, broker was Haywood Securities (UK) Ltd and the reporting accountant was Baker Tilly Corporate Finance LLP.
Issue 145 - 5 September, 2008. Read the full article
Ghana punches its financial weight, opens up for projects ahead of oil
Last October’s $750m Eurobond, the first such issue in sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa, was heavily oversubscribed; so was a $200m five-year bond for Ghana Telecommunications, raised only three weeks later. These issues came little more than three years after Ghana had graduated, in July 2004, under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries debt forgiveness initiative. Since the heady days of those Q4 07 issues the sub-prime crisis has kicked in, with signs that even apparently “immune” emerging markets could now face problems raising funds. But Ghana’s financial sector transformation continues to attract an impressive roster of bankers and investors excited at a range of prospects, including potential gas-fired independent power projects (IPPs) and the opportunities opened up by the nascent oil industry. Indeed, while swathes of the financial world scratch around for credit, Ghana may have to beware the siren songs of ever more bankers who are looking to win business in West Africa.
Issue 142 - 4 July, 2008. Read the full article
Rising prices, not sub-prime, make clouds on Africa’s financial horizon
Outside a few pockets of plenty, like the Gulf, bank credit is in short supply across the globe. African Energy’s regular scanning of the markets has suggested some tightening of terms and availability of project finance – and even some trade finance – in H1 2008 (AE 134/24, 132/8). But there seems still to be plenty of upside, with African markets relatively unscathed by sub-prime worries, according to leading development and commercial bankers who have talked to African Energy in the past fortnight.
Issue 138 - 9 May, 2008. Read the full article
Angola eyes new entry point on borrowing curve
Sonangol is expected to tap the structured finance market for new borrowing soon, and it will find a warm welcome from banks who see its oil-fuelled growth as sufficient to outweigh any concerns advocacy groups might have about Angola’s governance record, writes Kevin Godier.
Issue 136 - 11 April, 2008. Read the full article
Oando financing sets oil lending milestones
Indigenous oil and gas company Oando has raised an innovative naira-linked loan to help it purchase two offshore oil licences from Royal Dutch Shell for $625.7m. The two-year bilateral loan, solely arranged and provided by Merrill Lynch International, was fully guaranteed by local banks Zenith Bank and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), marking the first time that these institutions have sat behind an offshore loan
Issue 134 - 7 March, 2008. Read the full article
TOP
Stability in the Niger Delta holds the key to so many people’s problems
It was not just his much-vaunted commitment to African development that led Gordon Brown to offer already overstretched UK forces’ support for President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s efforts to stabilise the Niger Delta. Brown signalled that he might provide at least the sort of military training commitment that his predecessor Tony Blair used to such good effect in Sierra Leone. UK Ministry of Defence sources made clear their displeasure at the prospect of a new Nigerian involvement, but Brown seemed determined to participate in finding a solution to one of Africa’s – and the global oil market’s – most intractable problems.
Issue 144 - 1 August 2008. Read the full article
‘Humble’ Eskom is on the mend, but assailed by yet more bad news
There is a steady flow of positive news coming from Eskom, as the South African power giant seeks to restore its reputation after several very bad months. Key decisions on a new conventional nuclear power plant are expected within weeks (and possibly awarded to either Areva or Westinghouse by end-year), most major contracts have now been awarded for the massive new Medupi coal-fired plant, and within two months another 500MW of capacity will have been added to the 1,600MW already up and running from three return-to-service (RTS) coal-fired plants where work continues.
Issue 139, 23 May, 2008. Read the full article
North African refinery projects test gap between ambition and capacity
Every country along the North African littoral from Morocco to Egypt has got at least one refinery project in planning or on the go. The question is: can they all succeed when so many schemes are aiming for the same export market and in many cases hoping to use the same sources of feedstock?
Issue 135, 28 March, 2008. Read the full article
Analysts recalibrate risk perceptions in wake of SA, Kenya events
If pessimists are right, it may come to be seen as a balmy period when the strong macroeconomic figures registered by a majority of economies, and the upturn in investor interest from fixed income assets to downstream hydrocarbons mega-projects, suggested that economic positives could now outweigh the perennial political risk factors when assessing African business – the trend recorded by African Energy in 2006-07 (AE 129/22, 120/1). Recent events in Kenya and South Africa have shown the continent’s ability to generate fresh risk for project developers, their banks and insurers, even in those countries viewed as most secure.
Issue 134, 7 March, 2008. Read the full article
Libya: big opportunities, tough market – then there’s the politics
Concern that BP’s mega gas exploration and development deal may be delayed by the apparently never ending Lockerbie affair adds to the view that success in the Libyan hydrocarbons sector is hard to achieve, even for the biggest, best-supported operations in the business, writes John Hamilton.
Issue 126, 16 November 2007. Read the full article
Focus • Power • Upstream oil & gas • Downstream hydrocarbons & markets
Finance & policy • African Energy View
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