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Malabo is pushing on with efforts to turn Equatorial Guinea into a regional gas hub by announcing that a “master plan” for Equatorial Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas (EGLNG)’s second train is expected to make significant progress by mid-2010, although doubts remain about whether enough gas is available.

NOC head Shukri Ghanem’s authority has been enhanced by his adroit steering of the Libyan parastatal through some very choppy waters following Muammar Qadhafi’s decision to radically overhaul government in his Jamahiriya.

US developer Symbion Power signed a protocol d’accord on 24 July with Madagascar President Hery Rajaonarimampianina, including a framework deal to develop seven new generation plants with combined capacity of 180MW and a transmission line in partnership with local investor Vision Madagascar (ViMa). The power plants comprise a 116MW heavy fuel oil (HFO)-fuelled plant in Tsimiroro, a 10MW solar unit in Mahajanga and biomass plants producing up to 5MW each at Nosy Boraha, Nosy Be, Antsiranana and Toamasina. In a separate Power Purchase Agreement signed on 29 July with JIRAMA, Symbion will restore and operate the under-performing 40MW capacity HFO unit at Mandroseza from state utility state water and electricity utility Jiro sy Rany Malagasy (Jirama).

The Lesotho Electricity Company Ltd (LEC) is seeking expressions of interest from consultants to carry out an African Development Fund-backed renewable energy grid integration study. The study will assess LEC’s transmission and distribution networks to establish the level of absorption possible for renewable energy in the medium to long term.

The third and final phase of the Hassi R’Mel-Béni Saf (GZ4) gas transport pipeline, running from Mohammedia to Béni Saf, is now operational (AE 172/22). Sonatrach said the last phase of the project had been filled with gas on 15 April.

Lekela Power BV, a joint venture between private equity firm Actis and Mainstream Renewable Power, announced on 5 June that its 140MW Kangnas and 110MW Perdekraal East wind projects in South Africa have reached financial close. The projects were selected in the fourth round of the country’s renewable energy independent power producer procurement (REIPPP) programme in 2015, although the signing of key agreements was delayed until April.

Kibo Mining has announced an agreement to acquire an 85% interest in the Mabesekwa coal to power project in Botswana from Sechaba Natural Resources, a 100% subsidiary of Shumba Energy. In a 30 November press release, AIM- and Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed Kibo announced that Sechaba will receive a 28% shareholding in Kibo alongside retaining a 15% shareholding in a new special purpose vehicle to be incorporated for ownership of the Mabesekwa independent power project.

The 300MW high-voltage Caprivi connection between Zambia and Namibia has been inaugurated by the presidents of Namibia, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

ExxonMobil’s $4bn offer for Kosmos Energy’s stake in the Jubilee field has exposed major faultlines in the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government’s energy strategy. A faction within the ruling party is determined not to let the western supermajors get a stake in the potential 1.8bn bbl field, and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC ) wants a slice

Partner Chariot Oil & Gas has announced that the Eni-operated Rabat Deep 1 well failed to find hydrocarbons. Chariot said the well was drilled to a total depth of 3,180 metres to test the JP-1 prospect. Chariot was fully carried for the well as part of a farm-out to Eni, which was approved in January 2017. The well, drilled by the Saipem 12000 drillship, will now be plugged and abandoned.

The murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in a car bombing on 16 October has refocused attention on the fuel smuggling problem that has cost Libya hundreds of millions of dollars.

The resolution of a blockade at the Marsa al-Harigah terminal in mid-May averted what many expected to be a highly damaging financial and political crisis. However, it leaves unresolved the main grievances that provoked leaders in Cyrenaica to shut the port and deprive Tripoli of revenues earned from the sale of crude produced in the east of the country. The continued political disagreements and the expected delivery by a Russian company of LYD4bn worth of bank notes to the Benghazi-based administration will provide fertile ground for further disputes over both money and oil.

Following the resolution of the Ghana-Côte d’Ivoire border dispute, paving the way for production to increase, Tullow Oil has completed the financing of $2.5bn of reserves-base lending (RBL) facilities. The total is split between a commercial bank facility of $2.4bn and an International Finance Corporation facility of $100m. The fully committed facilities are revolving, with a three-year grace period and final maturity of November 2024.

Sharjah-based Dana Gas has made its second gas discovery of the year in the West Manzala concession in the Nile Delta (AE 154/17).

Uganda is close to signing a formal development agreement for a long-mooted 60,000 b/d refinery in Hoima district. Sources close to the talks told African Energy that an agreeement had been initialled and signing was expected within days. Ugandan officials spent more than three years negotiating with a Russian consortium led by RT Global Resources before talks collapsed in June 2016 and reserve bidder SK Engineering & Construction indicated that it was no longer interested in the project.