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On 15 December President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf officially commissioned the first 22MW turbine-generator unit at the 88MW Mount Coffee Hydropower rehabilitation project. A second turbine is scheduled to be commissioned in February 2017, and all four units should be operational by August 2017.The run-of-river hydropower plant on the Saint Paul River was built in the 1960s and destroyed during the civil war.

The Mesurado-1 well drilled by ExxonMobil on Block LB-13 has failed to find hydrocarbons, in the latest blow to Liberia’s hopes of emulating the exploration success of Ghana and Senegal. Partner Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (COPL) said the well intersected 145 metres of Late Cretaceous Santonian aged sand of which 118 metres was deemed to be reservoir quality, but no hydrocarbons were found.

Electrical testing began on the first 22MW unit of the 88MW Mount Coffee hydroelectric power project on 3 December. Mechanical testing has been completed and the unit is expected to be officially commissioned on 15 December. A second turbine is scheduled to be commissioned in February 2017. All four units should be operational by August 2017.

Liberia has enacted the new Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Law, which requires competitive bidding for all petroleum contracts, and that all oil companies declare their true owners. The interim management team (IMT) of the National Oil Company of Liberia (Nocal) has welcomed the new law, describing it as “a milestone achievement for the country’s emerging oil & gas sector”.

ExxonMobil began drilling the Mesurado-1 well on Block LB-13 on 22 November using the Seadrill West Saturn drillship. The well is being drilled about 50 miles offshore in 2,500 metres of water, targeting oil in Late Cretaceous sands.Meanwhile, African Petroleum, which drilled three wells offshore Liberia, has withdrawn from blocks LB-08 and LB-09 following the expiry of the production-sharing contracts. The company said the contracts had expired in June 2016 and it had been unable to agree an extension with Liberian authorities.

Operator ExxonMobil has said it plans to begin drilling its first well offshore Liberia in November (AE 309/13). The Mesurado-1 well on Block LB-13 will target Cretaceous Santonian-age reservoirs. Operations will be based out of Abidjan, in neighbouring Côte d’Ivoire. ExxonMobil farmed into the block in 2013, taking 83%, but drilling was delayed by the outbreak of the Ebola epidemic in 2014. The other 17% is held by Canadian Overseas Petroleum, which is carried by Exxon for its share of the first $120m of drilling costs.

Sable Mining is to cancel its AIM listing and take the company private after a series of factors including the lower iron ore price and a Global Witness investigation depressed its share price. The cancellation takes effect from 17 October.Sable’s main asset is the Nimba iron ore project in south-east Guinea. Sentiment has been affected by political instability in Guinea, the Ebola epidemic and low iron ore prices, as well as what Sable described as “unpredictability of legal systems together with unsubstantiated and irresponsible allegations and adverse press speculation”.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf officially inaugurated a 10MW heavy fuel oil (HFO) plant on 13 September at the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) compound on Bushrod Island outside Monrovia. The $27m project was funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Finance for the construction of facilities for offloading, transport and storage of HFO was provided by the World Bank through its $35m Accelerated Electricity Expansion Project. Sirleaf switched on the lights in the Snow Hill community in Monrovia’s Gardnerville district and said the restored Mount Coffee hydro plant would start to come on line in December 2016.

A grand jury has indicted Sable Mining chief executive Andrew Groves and seven other people following a damning report from Global Witness outlining the business model followed by Groves and his business partner, former England cricketer Phil Edmonds.President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf ordered an inquiry in May into Sable’s unsuccessful attempt to acquire an iron ore concession in northern Liberia after the report accused the company of bribing public officials.

Ecowas Refinery Liberia Limited (ERLL) has given KBR a contract for a bankable feasibility study for the development of a 100,000 b/d refinery at Buchanan. KBR said in a statement it would provide a market study, refinery configuration development, and environmental, social and health impact assessment study. The work is expected to be performed over five months, with KBR assessing the optimal refinery configuration and developing the financial model, including capital and operational cost estimates supported by China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering Corporation (HQC), a subsidiary of China National Petroleum Corporation.

The Mount Coffee hydroelectric power plant rehabilitation project is rushing to arrange compensation for around 500 people living along the two transmission lines that will take power from the plant to Monrovia. The issue needs to be resolved in time for the transmission lines to begin evacuating power when the first unit is connected to the grid, which is expected in December. Mount Coffee is expected to generate 88MW on completion, which is scheduled for August 2017.

Tenders have been issued for three projects following approval of donor financing for schemes to improve power supply in Monrovia and in Lofa County. The Ministry of Finance and Development Planning is seeking bids for the Monrovia Consolidation of Electricity Transmission and Distribution project, funded by the EuropeAid Cooperation Office. This is composed of three lots. Lot one is a three-year technical assistance programme for the Ministry of Lands, Mines and Energy’s Bureau of Electricity and Renewable Energy.

The World Bank board on 11 January approved financing of $27m for a project to increase access to electricity and encourage the use of renewable power technologies. The financing comprises a $25m grant from the Strategic Climate Fund’s Scaling Up Renewable Energy Programme and a $2m loan from the International Development Agency. The project will see $22m spent on constructing a mini-grid in Lofa County, one of the areas worst hit by the Ebola crisis and which is located more than 200km from the national grid. This is intended to provide affordable, year-round electricity supply to around 50,000 people.

The US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) has approved five-year compact agreements with Benin and Liberia, worth $375m and $257m respectively, and a $44.4m threshold agreement with Sierra Leone. The grant packages are intended to develop infrastructure in the three countries, with a focus on electricity in line with the MCC’s intention to invest $2bn in support of the Power Africa initiative. Liberia’s compact agreement was signed with the MCC on 2 October but required ratification by the country’s House of Representatives and Senate before it could be passed into law.

ExxonMobil plans to spud the Mesurado-1 well on Block LB-13 in late 2016 or early 2017, according to the 2016 work programme sent to block partner Canadian Overseas Petroleum (COP). The well, to be drilled in the second exploration phase of the contract, aims to prove a commercial quantity of hydrocarbons in the Cretaceous Santonian age reservoirs, and to provide calibration for the seismic response, which can be used to evaluate other leads on the block.