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The Export-Import Bank of the United States has doubled the size of its Nigerian bank facility to $1bn. Ex-Im Bank said the move met with a growing demand from Nigerian banks for medium- and longer-term financing.

Sweden’s PA Resources has farmed down a 70% stake in the offshore Didon and Zarat licences in Tunisia to Aberdeen-based EnQuest. PA Resources has been struggling financially for some time, and the sale will reduce the company’s share of future field development costs from an estimated $150m to $45m, enabling it to develop the Zarat field. EnQuest has assets in the UK North Sea and Malaysia, and the farm-in marks its first involvement in the African upstream.

There is a curious disconnection between Egypt’s dire political and financial straits and the relatively upbeat assessments from the international oil companies (IOCs) developing assets there. In spite of the continued closure of Eni and Union Fenosa’s Damietta LNG export terminal and the substantial debt owed by Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to domestic gas producers, long-term prospects still appear to justify investments.

Following riots over power shortages, the government has signed a $10m contract with Aggreko for 50MW of short-term thermal power for Conakry. Electricité de Guinée director-general Nava Touré said the six-month contract was the only way to calm rising social tensions in the capital. In early August, demonstrators set up roadblocks, burned tyres and halted traffic to protest at the government’s failure to meet its promises to improve electricity supply. Security forces intervened to restore order and at least ten people were injured.

A cabinet meeting on 6 June approved a production-sharing contract for Edinburgh-based Savannah Petroleum for blocks R1 and R2. A government statement said the blocks represented 50% of the Agadem Block, granted to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in 2007, suggesting the new blocks are relinquished acreage. Initial oil production from Agadem is supplying a refinery near Zinder and CNPC has plans to build an extension to the Chad-Cameroon pipeline to enable exports.

Find ways to store the electricity generated from solar, wind and other renewables, and these technologies may cease to be ‘intermittent’ sources of power – a game-changer that is expected to transform Africa’s electricity supply industry in the next decade or two. “Storage will make a lot of difference to the shape of the grid,” observed Gravitricity managing director and co-founder Charlie Blair, predicting that networks will emerge “without big spines and instead more of a nodal system”.

Special supplementary conditions have been set for the Ahnet zone, a gas project operated by Sonatrach. This prize territory seems to be operating almost as a test case. According to Sonatrach head Mohammed Meziane, “we are convinced that numerous possibilities exist through which Sonatrach can benefit from access to international assets

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has approved a regulatory clearing account (RCA) balance of R7.82bn ($734m) following an application by national utility Eskom. The ruling is likely to result in a tariff increase of 2-5% in 2015-16 on top of the 8% already approved. The RCA is a mechanism which allows Eskom to recoup unforeseen losses accrued during previous multi-year price determination (MYPD) periods due to discrepancies between tariff forecasts and the actual developments over the period.

South Africa-based Engen Petroleum has completed the purchase of Total’s downstream operations in Guinea Bissau, Rwanda and Burundi. The agreement, signed on 31 July in Paris and effective from 19 November, sees Engen take over Total’s shareholding in Total Rwanda and in Total Burundi.

The start-up of the Kaléta dam in mid 2015 improved power supply for several months but low water levels mean that only one of the dam’s three turbines is able to operate. With insufficient thermal capacity to fill the gap, power cuts have again become commonplace in outlying districts of Conakry. An Electricité de Guinée (EDG) official told African Energy almost all the country’s available capacity at present is being produced by thermal plants in Conakry.

The authorities have overruled a complaint by MAN Diesel and given the Kipevu III contract to low bidder Wärtsilä, paving the way for 120MW of additional power to come on stream by end-2010, writes Kimemia Mugo

Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has found itself caught in a Catch-22 situation. Ordered by the government to build up major stockpiles of gasoline ahead of the holiday season and February’s elections, it knows its accelerated imports will stoke the illicit trade in informal exports. Smugglers fill large jerry cans at service stations near border posts and load up their mopeds, motorbikes and cars to cross into countries where they can sell the product at higher prices.

Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos de Mocambique (ENH) and Brazilian steel giant Vale signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in Maputo on 10 December which paves the way for coalbed methane exploration in the Moatize coal fields in Tete province

After making rapid progress in electrification in recent years, Burkina Faso has set itself another ambitious access target. Energy and mines minister Salif Kaboré told Francois Misser how he plans to meet the challenge

South African-based small hydro developer NuPlanet has started construction of a third run-of-river scheme and is looking to expand internationally. Managing director Anton-Louis Olivier told African Energy in an interview that construction of the 4.5MW Stortemelk plant on the Ash River, near Clarens in Free State, began in October after the developer reached financial close in September. The R186m ($18m) project is funded on a 30-70% debt-to-equity ratio with debt from Rand Merchant Bank and equity financing from parent company Renewable Energy Holdings, jointly owned by Olivier and the Mertech Group.