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Repsol has suspended drilling of the Welwitschia-1A well in the Walvis Basin following a series of technical problems. Partner Tower Resources said on 27 May it expected drilling to resume in the first week of June and to be completed within budget. The well spudded on 23 April using the Rowan Renaissance drillship. Following installation of the 36-inch casing, it was observed that the pressurised wellhead housing had slumped. The partners decided to plug and abandon the original well and re-spud 50 metres away. Drilling resumed at the new site on 1 May, but was further delayed by a fault in the blow-out preventer (BOP) control system, which Tower said it expected to be resolved shortly.

The administration is moving to strengthen the institutional focus on Morocco’s wind-focused renewables drive, with new legislation going through the works to encourage alternative energy, more private and state-funded projects under way, and a significant appointment to head the Centre de Développement des Energies Renouvelables (CDER), which King Mohammed VI agreed should become the state agency driving renewables policy following a national conference on energy strategy earlier this year.

Among the larger Saudi-controlled companies active in the African resources boom is Stockholm-based Svenska Petroleum, which belongs to Saudi/Ethiopian magnate Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi – one of that group of Saudi businessmen born into non-Saudi or marginal communities who have emerged as very significant players, usually by being linked to senior Saudi princes as ‘men of business’ during part, at least, of their careers.

Mauritius-based Tembo Power has signed a joint development agreement with South African private equity fund manager Metier for the 14.7MW Kaptis small hydropower project in western Kenya. The agreement, which will see Metier take a 40% equity stake alongside Tembo Power (40%) and South Africa’s WK Construction (20%), paves the way for the next stage of the development of the run-of-river project, Tembo said on 18 March. With equity fully secured, Tembo said development finance institutions were now being appointed for senior debt, with the aim of achieving financial close and starting construction later this year.

Ultra-deep find for BP, deep discovery for Eni; Roc drilling; NW Gemsa well hits oil, gas; Lundin PSC farm-out; MPDC seeks partners, New Maurel & Prom find; Petronas signs for two Rovuma Basin blocks

In a 9 May filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Kosmos Energy has given details of a dispute over development plans for the Mahogany area of the West Cape Three Points (WCTP) Block. The Mahogany area, covering parts of the Mahogany East discovery and the Mahogany Deep discovery, was declared commercial in September 2010, and a plan of development (PoD) was submitted to the Ministry of Energy in May 2011.

Australia’s Elixir Petroleum has taken over operatorship of 8 Investments’ Block SL-4 and has begun a 3D seismic acquisition programme.

Sasol, iGas and Compania Mozambicana de Gasoduto are building a gas compression station to facilitate a 20% expansion of natural gas delivery from Mozambique to South Africa by the end of 2009.

Gabon has launched a licensing round to be governed by a revised petroleum code currently under preparation. Oil minister Pascal Houangni Ambouroue told the Africa Oil Week conference in Cape Town on 7 November the round would offer 12 blocks in shallow water and 23 blocks in deep water. Bids are due by 22 April.Roadshows will be held on 5 January in Houston, on 15 January in London and on 19 February in Singapore, and the round will also be promoted at the African Petroleum Producers Organisation Cape VII conference in Malabo on 1-5 April.

The interim government has signed a production-sharing contract for Block 6 in the Taoudeni Basin with a company called Corvus Resources Management Ltd. Corvus is registered in the Cayman Islands and its corporate record, obtained by African Energy, gives no information on directors, revealing only that the company was formed on 28 August 2012. A cabinet statement said that Corvus had agreed to a work programme for the first four years of the contract to include exploration activity and drilling one well, for a total cost of $35m.

Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) released a statement on 22 October revealing that it had approved loan facilities of R9.6bn ($1.1bn) for REIPPP first-round preferred bidders.

With its energy loan book already at record levels, the African Development Bank has granted $68m for the Inga Site Development and Electricity Access Support Project. This aims to bring the 4,800MW Inga 3 project to bankability with professional services, capacity building to allow for coherent decisions about developers, and creation of a good environment for public/private partnerships. The bank has identified shortfalls in project preparation as a key challenge to completing privately financed infrastructure schemes, even in states less fragile than Democratic Republic of Congo.

ANGOLA: Pipelines contract for LNG plant; ANGOLA: Technip to expand Angoflex; GHANA/CAMEROON: USTDA study; MADAGASCAR: Enermad farms out to Niko Resources; MOROCCO: Canamens takes Essaouira blocks; NAMIBIA: Key pulls out; SIERRA LEONE: Elixir takes over after Prontinal fails to pay; UGANDA: Tower farms out Area 5; UGANDA: Heritage spuds Giraffe

Imboulou dam inaugurated; SAPP tender; Nyabarongo financing signed; Landfill gas project

The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation has completed a €200m ($262m) financing package for the expansion of the Compagnie Ivoirienne de Production d’Electricité (Ciprel) gas-fired power plant. The expansion comprises the addition of a 111MW gas turbine (Phase 4A), and conversion to combined cycle of its two latest gas turbines, which will add a further 111MW capacity via a steam turbine (Phase 4B). The two investments will cost a total of €350m. For Phase 4B, IFC is providing a €100m loan, while Proparco and the African Development Bank are each providing €50m loans.