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Moves to make the operations of national oil company Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (SNPC) and Republic of Congo’s management of revenues more transparent have slowed down in the past two years, according to sources in Brazzaville and abroad canvassed by African Energy.

Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage (SIR) has signed an agreement for a $120m structured financing to enable the Abidjan refiner to import crude supplies. The financing, signed on 15 January, was led by Banque Atlantique-Côte d’Ivoire, along with Chaabi International Bank, a subsidiary of Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire.

Democratic Republic of Congo’s hydrocarbons prospects are so attractive that a few companies remain apparently unconcerned about the lack of regulatory structure for the industry or bloody Mai Mai and other insurgencies that might upset their operations. Canada-based Alberta Oilsands and Pan African Oil in January signed a production-sharing agreement to explore Block 5 (Kalembie) and Block 6 (Fatuma) on Lake Tanganyika. Pan African chief executive Gary Wine told African Energy the companies were “basically in a memorandum of understanding stage at the moment”.

Eni on 25 October announced the discovery of new resources in the Abu Rudeis Sidri development lease in the Gulf of Suez, where the Petrobel joint venture with Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation drilled an appraisal well on the Sidri South discovery announced last July. The Sidri-36 appraisal well encountered a 200-metre hydrocarbon column in the Nubia formation downdip from the Sidri-23 discovery well.

With Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency marked by a lack of improvement to power supply, a push from the top is needed to clear blockages that have held up progress. Generation on 31 March stood at only 3,540MW, according to the Federal Ministry of Power. With peak demand recorded at 12,800MW, the sector suffered a shortfall of some 9,260MW.The declaration of the Transitional Electricity Market (TEM) in February was seen as key to unblocking the sector. However, industry sources doubt whether the TEM is being fully implemented.

Total has given Shearwater GeoServices a conditional letter of award for a 2D seismic survey as it prepares to follow up February’s Brulpadda gas and condensate discovery on blocks 11B/12B.Shearwater said the 3,650km survey would take two months and includes fast-track processing using the vessel’s onboard computer facility.

Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power announced an agreement on 15 September to purchase the 225MW Ayitepa wind farm project from Swiss developer NEK Umwelttechnik. Mainstream said the project was in the latter stages of development with all major permits secured. Grid and offtake agreements are being finalised, and the $525m scheme is expected to reach financial close in 2015 and start generating power early in 2016, according to Mainstream. The government has described the scheme as a major contribution to Ghana’s target of raising green energy production to 500MW by 2020 from 2.5MW now, but there are concerns about the capacity of the grid to transmit the power.

The African Development Bank has agreed to provide grants of $8.3m from the African Development Fund and $12.1m from the Fragile States Facility to finance the Comoros Energy Sector Support Project. The project, co-financed with $5m from the World Bank, will be implemented in the three main islands, Grande Comore, Anjouan and Mohéli. It will rehabilitate production facilities, help improve financial governance through capacity building, and support the preparation of studies on renewable energy potential. Development finance institutions have become more active in the country since Ikililou Dhoinine became president in May 2011 after an election that was considered by the World Bank to be “broadly fair and transparent”.

Aminex began gas production on 4 April from the Kiliwani North-1 well, which will deliver gas to the new adjacent Songo Songo processing plant for the local power market. Production is expected to build up to 25-30 mcf/d over the next 90-100 days and initial production rates will be managed to allow for testing and commissioning of the gas processing plant and pipeline. Together with Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), Aminex plans to conduct a well test during the production build-up to determine the optimal flow rate. This will become the commercial production rate and the company intends to flow gas at this rate for as long as possible before a natural decline in production. Aminex signed a gas sales agreement with TPDC in January.

As the pace of new projects finally starts to pick up, administrative delays at the Department of Energy mean the deadline for renewable energy bidders to reach financial close has been moved back, writes Dan Marks

Africa Energy Corporation has taken a 10% stake in PEL 37 in the Walvis Basin. The Cape Town-based company has acquired one third of the shares in Pancontinental Oil & Gas subsidiary Pancontinental Namibia Pty Ltd, which holds a 30% participating interest in PEL 37. ONGC Videsh took a 30% stake in the Tullow Oil-operated licence in June. Tullow holds 35% and the local Paragon Oil & Gas holds 5%.

Desertec is an ambitious project to bring solar electricity generated in the Middle East/North Africa (Mena) region to Europe by harnessing desert sunshine captured by concentrating

Qatar has agreed to supply free natural gas to Egypt via a swap arrangement to relieve pressure on gas demand over the summer. According to a 10 June statement on Qatar News Agency, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, heir apparent to Emir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, personally ordered the donation of five LNG shipments to Egypt “in a bid to curb an energy production crisis in the Egyptian local market during the summer”. The gas will be delivered to Egypt’s international customers, enabling it to retain more gas for domestic generation.

Australia’s AVZ Minerals is to study the feasibility of refurbishing the Piana-Mwanga hydropower plant and associated grids to supply its planned lithium and tin mining operations. AVZ Minerals said on 15 January that its subsidiary AVZ Power had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Water Resources and Energy to examine the viability of re-commissioning the plant, which was built in 1933 to service the historic tin mine but closed in 1982 when operations ceased.

National Oil Corporation has renewed Eni’s six exploration and production-sharing contracts for 25 years from January 2008. The new expiry dates set by the agreement are 2042 for production of oil and 2047 for gas. Eni, Libya’s main foreign operator, said it had signed six EPSA-4 contracts with NOC converting its original agreements to the new standard format.