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Amendments to the 2005 hydrocarbons law (05-07) will introduce the “necessary conditions for the development of unconventional resources”; Kosmos Energy says it plans to drill the Sipo well testing the Liwenyi prospect on the Ndian River Block in late 2012; Chariot Oil & Gas has announced that subsidiary Enigma Oil & Gas has signed a drilling rig contract with AP Moller Maersk; UK oil company Afren has completed a successful well test programme on its Okoro East field in the offshore OML 112 and plans two production wells in H2 using existing facilities

A new 200MW power plant at Bir Mechergua built by the US’ GE is due to start up in June, Tunis Afrique Presse quoted industry minister Mohamed Lamine Chakhari as saying.

Veteran Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (Renamo) leader Afonso Dhlakama’s surprise return to the bush in October 2012 was an unsettling reminder of the fragility of post-conflict Mozambique, as guerrilla roadblocks returned and coal exports were halted in the central region. Renamo’s rebellion was triggered by demands for a greater share of state jobs and resources. A peace agreement signed on 24 August 2014 promised jobs, above all in the army and police, and set a platform for campaigning to start for general elections on 15 October.

Total and its partners are gearing up to drill the Venus-1 well on Block 2912 in late 2019 or early 2020, hoping for a second discovery to follow the Brulpadda gas condensate find drilled offshore South Africa early this year.“This is a massive submarine fan, it’s the biggest one any of us have ever seen. It’s about 600km2,” Africa Oil Corporation president and chief executive Keith Hill told the Africa E&P conference in London on 22 May.

Industry scepticism about the project’s economics notwithstanding, on 23 January, President Uhuru Kenyatta shook hands with Total executive committee member Momar Nguer to confirm the French major’s commitment to investing in the Lokichar-Lamu oil pipeline. These things matter in East African oil and geostrategic manoeuvring; Uganda’s export pipeline was planned to pass through Lokichar until Total backed a rival route to Tanzania, but having since bought Maersk Oil, it needs an export route in Kenya too.

Operator Yinka Folawiyo Petroleum has signed a contract with Saipem for the Scarabeo 3 rig to carry out the drilling and completion programme for the Aje field Cenomanian oil development on OML 113. Partner Panoro Energy said first oil was expected in December. The Aje field contains hydrocarbons in sandstone reservoirs in three main levels – a Turonian gas condensate reservoir, a Cenomanian oil reservoir and an Albian gas condensate reservoir.

Australia’s Cooper Energy is looking to sell its Tunisian portfolio and opened a data room in March. Cooper said a number of interested parties were reviewing the opportunity and the data room was expected to remain open during most of Q2. “In the absence of a compelling offer, Cooper Energy considers that the greatest value will be realised through a sale after the drilling and production testing of the planned Hammamet West-3 ST-2” sidetrack well, expected in early 2015 provided a rig can be secured, Cooper said.

Key upstream partners are making bullish noises about their Algerian operations, but a call by judicial authorities to reopen investigations into historic accusations of malfeasance at state energy giant Sonatrach threatens to undermine confidence (see View). Italian major Eni has been anxious to secure long-term contracts and reiterate its commitment to Algerian business after ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika left office. Gas supply deals were signed in June with Portuguese buyer Galp and Sonatrach’s largest Italian client, Enel.

SOCO plans drilling; Sea Dragon to drill; Vitol seeks farm-in partners; Circle Oil makes gas find; Total farms into deep water

The transfer of management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) to Power Distribution Services Ghana Ltd, which is owned by a consortium led by the Philippines’ Manila Electricity Company (Meralco), is expected to take place on 1 February, Millennium Development Authority (Mida) chief executive Martin Eson-Benjamin told a media briefing in Accra this month.Mida is responsible for implementing Ghana’s $469.3m compact with the US’ Millennium Challenge Corporation.

Anadarko Petroleum has said the Paon-5A horizontal well drilled to appraise the 2012 Paon discovery on Block CI-103 encountered nearly 100 feet of pay. The well, drilled by the Dolphin Drilling drillship Bollette Dolphin, was Anadarko’s first horizontal deep-water well. In its Q1 2016 report on 2 May, the company said it was drilling the Paon-3A horizontal sidetrack to be followed by drillstem and interference testing.

The African Development Bank has issued an SEK733m ($89.3m) Light Up and Power Africa bond, sold exclusively to Japan’s Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd. The funds will be used in the ordinary operations of the bank with an equal amount directed towards programmes investing in the power sector across the continent in line with the bank’s aim to achieve universal electricity access in Africa by 2025. The ten-year bond was a private placement settled on 21 September 2017 with Deutsche Bank as the sole arranger.

Four 80kW solar PV-diesel mini-grids in Beleko Soba, Fakola, Dogoni and Diena will be commissioned within months after building work was completed, the Netherlands’ Foundation Rural Energy Services (FRES) told African Energy. The projects are waiting for the end of travel restrictions so specialist teams can commission the plants. Beleko Soba and Fakola are being developed by Solar23 and Dogoni and Diena by JGH.

A new liquefied petroleum gas terminal at Mombasa is due to open in early 2012, promising to remove infrastructure constraints and bring down prices, writes Kimemia Mugo

Tribal rights NGO Survival International has lodged a complaint with the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) against Italian company Salini Impregilo, which is building the 1,870MW Gilgel Gibe III dam on the Omo River in Ethiopia. The complaint was filed under the 2011 OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, to which Salini is a signatory.