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Polish businessman Jan Kulczyk has sold his 8% stake in Ophir Energy as the company approaches the development stage on two big projects. Founding shareholder Kulczyk sold 56.6m shares on 28 April at 140p/share, well below the 250p price at which the stock launched in 2011. Ophir plans to develop 3.4tcf of gas on Equatorial Guinea Block R via a floating liquefied natural gas development, but says it will need to bring in a partner before a final investment decision.

Israeli-French mining entrepreneur Beny Steinmetz has launched a case in London’s High Court against his former public relations adviser FTI Consulting, naming individuals such as former UK minister Lord Mark Malloch Brown (MMB) and business magnate George Soros. In court documents, Steinmetz’s company BSG Resources (BSGR) details how FTI was instructed to defend its interests when it was facing “untrue and damaging” allegations over a mining project in Guinea, but “from the moment MMB joined FTI [in September 2010 as Europe, Middle East and Africa chairman], FTI was in serious breach of its contractual and fiduciary duties to BSGR, including to act in its best interests”.

The UK’s Aminex plc is looking to fast-track development of its Kiliwani North (KN) gas discovery with a short-term solution until the nearby Songo-Songo gas field’s Songas facilities can be upgraded.

Mozambique’s Energy Fund (Funae) is inviting bids from consultants to carry out feasibility studies and advise on procurement of 11 solar PV and battery mini-grids. The deadline for submissions is 19 May.The contract is expected to last 12 months. The mini-grids are being developed on a public-private partnership basis. The independent power producer will be responsible for financing, operating and maintaining the generation facilities through power purchase agreements with Electricidade de Moçambique (EdM).

Aker Energy Ghana issued a letter of intent (LoI) on 20 February to Yinson Production West Africa and its related companies for a FPSO for the Pecan field development. The LoI is for a bareboat charter agreement with FPSO owner Yinson Gazania Production Ltd (YGPL) and an operation and maintenance agreement with Yinson Gazania Operations Ltd for an initial ten years, extendable to 15 years.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources is seeking a consultant to assist with the development of the planned Somali Petroleum Authority (SPA). The SPA will act as the industry regulator; its mandate is outlined in the 2017 petroleum bill, which is awaiting parliamentary approval. The bill, amending the 2008 petroleum law, was approved by cabinet in 2017. In June 2018, the federal government and federal member states reached an agreement on ownership, management and sharing of Somalia’s oil and mining revenues.

The government has received 21 bids for 14 of the 27 blocks offered in its licensing round, which closed in September, and plans to announce awards in Malabo on 26 November. Speaking during a country presentation at Africa Oil Week on 7 November, energy and mines minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima said bids for EG-27, EG-23, EG-18, EG-09, EG-03, EG-04 and EG-29 had been fully evaluated and would be signed by the end of November while the rest would need more time.

DR CONGO: Snel management contract; EGYPT: Power plant switchboards tender; EGYPT: Ain El Sokhna tender; REGIONAL: Power line progress; SIERRA LEONE: Worker demonstration; SOUTH AFRICA: Renewable energy boost; SUDAN: Egyptians mobilise cement plant project; UGANDA: Tariff cuts criticised for being too limited; ZAMBIA: Solar energy gets funding

A sharp decline in gas production and exports has reignited fears about the health of reserves and Algeria's failure to find any major new deposits in recent years, writes John Hamilton. With hydrocarbons production and exports expected to shrink in 2011 – when export revenues are predicted to fall from a forecast $44.2bn in 2010 to $42.2bn – Algeria’s ability to meet its medium/long-term gas supply commitments is again in question.

The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons has signalled a tough new line on local content regulations, announcing on 17 July that it had ordered oil companies operating in the country to cancel all contracts with Canada’s CHC Helicopters.Oil companies operating in Equatorial Guinea have been given 60 days to unwind contracts and find new suppliers, with only those companies in compliance with the local content provisions established in 2014 allowed to bid for contracts.

Under a peace agreement signed in Addis Ababa on 23 January, the government and dissident elements of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army have committed to ceasing “all military actions”, to “freeze their forces at the place they are in” and to “refrain from taking any actions that could lead to military confrontations”. They also agreed to cease propaganda campaigns against their opponents, pledged to protect civilians and allow for humanitarian access, and to comply with a monitoring and verification process to be implemented by the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).

Far from drawing to a close three years after it broke, the Sonatrach corruption scandal is widening as new evidence turns the spotlight on the company’s partners in Italy and Canada, write Oualid Khelifi and John Hamilton.

Sound Energy has changed its plans for the Tendrara gas discovery and now plans a fast-track early production project, after plans to sell down a stake in the licence stalled. Sound said it now planned to prioritise early cash flows from the concession from a micro LNG scheme for the TE-5 Horst field with first gas planned for 2021. The micro LNG scheme will be pursued alongside the full field development plan, centred around a 120km pipeline development.

Trident Energy has announced that a 4D seismic survey began on 22 January on Block G. The acquisition is being carried out by Polarcus Naila and the survey is expected to take 45 days, covering an area of 340km2. A 4D survey consists of 3D data acquired at different times over the same area to assess changes in a producing hydrocarbon reservoir over time.

The Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) has invited consultants to submit expressions of interest for a study on the development of rural and periurban electrification in the region. The study is intended to co-ordinate activity in the region, where the West African Power Pool – created following an Ecowas decision of 2004 – is trying to accelerate the implementation of a pipeline of nearly 60 generation and interconnection projects.