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Egypt-focused SDX Energy has signed non-binding heads of terms with Circle Oil to acquire the troubled company’s Egypt and Morocco assets. The agreement, announced on 11 January, has a 30-day exclusivity period. “Circle’s assets present an attractive opportunity to add material production and reserves at an attractive price,” SDX chief executive Paul Welch said in a statement. Circle has the producing Sebou permit and the Lalla Mimouna permit in Morocco, and the Al Amir and Geyad permits in Egypt’s Gulf of Suez, but has run into substantial financial difficulties due to payment arrears built up by Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation.

The Agence Nigérienne de Promotion de l’Electrification en Milieu Rural (ANPER) is seeking expressions of interest from consultants for a project to install off-grid solar power systems as part of a national rural electrification programme financed from a $30m loan from the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).

Eni spudded the B1-16/3 exploration well in contract area D of the offshore NC41 area in the Mediterranean north of Tripoli on 4 January. The area was granted to Eni North Africa under the EPSA IV contract model signed with National Oil Corporation (NOC) in June 2008.The well will be drilled in water depths of 156 metres, about 5km north of the Bahr Essalam gas field. NOC said it expected the well to be drilled to a total depth of 3,007 metres

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

Demand for natural gas is rising across the continent, as African governments promote gas-to-power (GTP) projects to meet rising electricity consumption and growth industries such as cement look to secure energy supply. But creating business environments that encourage sustainable investment in costly infrastructure remains problematic, even in countries with major offshore gas finds, such as Mozambique and Tanzania – which have hoped to stimulate local investment by incorporating a substantial domestic supply obligation into their proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects.

Having reported that construction of its first solar unit at Ouarzazate, Noor I, developed by a group headed by Riyadh-based Acwa Power, has been brought in 30% under budget, Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy (Masen) is looking at a range of other projects and investments, including a major industrial development investment with France’s Alcen group.As well as expecting to bring the Ouarzazate complex’s capacity to a minimum 500MW with Noor IV, a 50MW solar photovoltaic (PV) unit, Masen is planning a further major contribution to the Moroccan solar energy target of installing a minimum 2GW by 2020.

The governments of Uganda and South Sudan have signed a memorandum of understanding for Uganda to supply power to the South Sudan border towns of Kaya and Nimule.
Speaking at the signing ceremony on 2 October in Kampala, state minister for energy Simon D’ Ujanga, said the agreement was in line with the East African Community’s power pool agreement, which calls on member states to interconnect their electricity networks.

Engen has bought a 15% ownership stake in the Juhi jet fuel storage facility at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport near the capital Port Louis. Engen Petroleum Mauritius managing director Joan Njoroge said jet fuel storage facilities were usually run in consortia, to minimise the number of depots and therefore airport security risks. “Co-ownership puts Engen on a competitive footing with other oil companies,” she said. “We have already won several tenders since we began activities in April.”

The Office of the Ombudsman has said that the names of those convicted of embezzlement of public funds may soon be made public. The office already releases the names of those found guilty of low-level corruption – farmers, taxi drivers, local defence personnel – but is under pressure to reveal those found guilty of bigger crimes. 


As Nigeria struggles to overcome its generation woes (see Focus, above) Siemens Energy has received an order for construction of the Geregu II gas turbine power plant in Ajaokuta for Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC).

Société Tunisienne d’Electricité et du Gaz (Steg) has signed a E47.57m ($70.6m) loan from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to part-finance its Electricity Distribution Networks Rehabilitation and Restructuring Project, worth an estimated TD112m for transmission and distribution projects.

Lake Turkana Wind Power (LTWP) expects to bring its 300MW project in Kenya on line during 2015, constituting a large chunk of the 510MW of wind energy that the government plans to commission over the next 40 months. “Commissioning will probably be 2015, which will be 50MW, and then will be injected in tranches of 10MW, with the turbines erected at one per day,” LTWP founder and owner Chris Staubo told African Energy. The company is meeting lenders in London to go through the remaining conditions precedent, of which there are about 600. “The lenders and debt are in place, we have our term sheet. What remains now is to have a meeting in London with all the lenders to go through the various conditions precedent,” said Staubo, adding: “We foresee financial close in December this year.”

Abu Dhabi-based renewable energy developer Masdar is to build seven solar PV projects totalling 12MW under a contract signed on 21 January with the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy, and Mines. The projects in the towns of Boutilimit, Aleg, Aioune, Akjoujt, Atar, Al Shami and Boulenour will, on average, meet 30% of each town’s electricity demand when completed by Q1 2016, according to a press statement. The plants, which will reduce reliance on diesel, are sized to provide additional generation capacity as demand rises following upgrades to the local grids.

Following Dragon Oil’s decision to drop its bid for Bowleven on 26 March reported a narrowing pre-tax loss for the six months to 31 December of $5.495m and a loss per share of $0.02; Nigerian conglomerate Oando is increasing its upstream activity, with three rigs now in operation and a fourth due in service by year-end

Sound Energy announced on 8 June that it had submitted a development application to the Ministry of Energy for the Tendrara gas discovery in eastern Morocco. The application for the Phase 1 development of Tendrara covers the technical and commercial aspects of the field development plan and the outline of the development area. Sound expects the discovery to produce some 60mcf/d of natural gas, to be produced through a future 120km spur to the Maghreb-Europe gas pipeline (GME), which runs from Algeria’s Hassi R’Mel fields to Spain.