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Saipem contract for Hassi Messaoud LPG; LPG supply to double; KBR wins petrochems pre-FEED contract

DR CONGO: AfDB finance for Inga; LIBERIA: Official debt relief

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation is inviting bids for the design, manufacture, installation and commissioning of two transmission line packages. The first involves construction of a 132kV single circuit line connecting the 460MW Beles hydroelectric power plant to Beles Sugar Factory and supply of ancillary equipment for a 230kV transmission line. The second is to build a 230kV line from Welayita Sodo II to Omo Kuraz Sugar Factory and a 132kV transmission line from Sugar Factory 1 to Sugar Factory 5. Bid documents will be available from 17 June, with bids due by 20 August.

In interviews with senior southern Sudanese officials and other players during the referendum period, African Energy has built up a profile of the expected new state’s plans to develop electricity, oil and other resources. The South Sudanese leadership has big ambitions, and the region has potential pockets of wealth, but there are real concerns about its lack of capacity to develop projects effectively

The 22 January announcement that Globeleq and its partner IPS had reached financial close for the 253MW expansion of their 460MW Azito gas-fired plant at Yopougon, near Abidjan, was timed to coincide with a visit to London by an Ivorian delegation led by President Alassane Dramane Ouattara for the UK-Africa Summit. General Electric will provide gas turbine technology and services for the Phase IV project. The new and enlarged 20-year Azito concession agreement underscores Côte d’Ivoire’s ability to finance major private sector infrastructure projects.

The consequences of the earthquake and tsunami which triggered a nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, leading to 12GW of power to be shut down in eastern Japan

As the new government of populist President Michael Sata promises to tackle high fuel prices and corruption, the Zambia Public Procurement Agency (ZPPA) has launched a tender to supply the Indeni refinery, with the energy ministry promising a break from past malpractice.

As the pace of exploration speeds up offshore Morocco, Kosmos has begun drilling the FA-1 well on the Foum Assaka Block, while Cairn Energy has plugged and abandoned the JM-1 well on the Cap Juby prospect on the Juby Maritime licence. Kosmos’ well, which spudded on 16 March, will test the Eagle prospect, which the company estimates to contain 360m boe of resources in its primary deep-water Lower Cretaceous reservoir objective. It is expected to take three months to drill.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a supplemental loan of $33m to the government to fund the rehabilitation of the Massingir dam on the Olifants River in Gaza Province. Construction began in the 1970s but was halted during Mozambique’s 16-year civil war. The project was finally completed in 2007 but, after only a year, the dam’s bottom outlets ruptured, flooding 90,000ha of farmland.

Angola’s National Private Investment Agency (ANIP) has published figures showing that planned rehabilitation and construction of new power plants between 2009 and 2016 will require an investment of $8.4bn. The Ministry of Energy and Water plans projects to harness the hydroelectric potential of the Kwanza, Catumbela and Cunene rivers.

Victoria Oil & Gas (VOG) plans to start drilling on the Logbaba gas and condensate field, following completion of its acquisition of Bramlin in November 2008 (AE 149/15).

Zimbabwe’s State Procurement Board (SPB) has finally awarded the tender for the 300MW Kariba South Power Station extension to Sinohydro, the Zimbabwe Herald reported. The daily paper said the Chinese company had bid about $368m for the contract, which was just over half of the $700m agreed with the Treasury in a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in 2010.

National Petroleum Authority (NPA) chief executive Alexander Mould has been named as the new head of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), the energy ministry said. Mould replaces Nana Boakye Asafu-Adjaye, who had been GNPC chief executive since 2009. Before his appointment to the NPA, Mould had been executive director and co-head of wholesale banking at Standard Chartered Bank in Ghana

ArcelorMittal South Africa is looking for an independent power producer to build an 800MW gas-fired power station at its Saldanha steel works to help ensure the scheme’s survival, chief executive Paul O’Flaherty told Reuters on 12 February. ArcelorMittal, which is reviewing its Saldanha operation partly due to high electricity costs, is willing to take as much as 220MW of the plant’s capacity and is in talks with other industrial users and the government to sign long-term contracts for the rest. Building an independent power plant is vital for the survival of Saldanha, O’Flaherty told Reuters, adding that Eskom’s rising electricity prices were unaffordable.

SDX Energy has announced a gas discovery with the KSR-14 development well on the Sebou permit in Morocco, and an oil discovery with the Rabul-2 well in the West Gharib concession in Egypt. The Rabul-2 well encountered 31 metres of net heavy oil pay across the Yusr and Bakr sand formations, with an average porosity of 20%. The well will be completed as a producer in the Bakr and connected to the central processing facilities at Meseda.