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Once again, Brazzaville has been suffering from a lack of petrol, with some drivers queueing for hours to fill up in the last month. As usual, African Energy’s Brazzaville correspondent reports, there was no official announcement to tell consumers.

In an out-of-court settlement to avoid a further public biens mal acquis (ill-gotten goods) scandal, a dispute has been concluded over the penthouse apartment in Biscayne Bay, Miami purchased in the name of the wife of presidential son and international co-operation and public/private partnerships minister Denis-Christel Sassou Nguesso (widely known as Kiki).

The government has forecast an upturn in average production in 2021 to 344,000 b/d. This would be higher than the record 339,000 b/d produced in 2019 and would mark a recovery from 2020 when only 300,000 b/d was produced due to output declines in mature fields and the low level of investment.

Finance, budget and public portfolio minister Rigobert Roger Andely has told local press that RoC’s debt to China stands at FCFA1,325bn ($2.4bn), of which FCFA 1,100bn is bilateral debt and FCFA225bn is owed to Chinese commercial creditors.

The planned Atlantique Pétrochimie refinery at Fouta, 30km from Pointe-Noire, promised by the Beijing Fortune Dingheng Investment company, is proceeding according to timetable, the Chinese investor’s local director-general Shao Sen told special economic zones and economic diversification minister Émile Ouosso in June.

The Oslo-listed indie is taking advantage of heavyweight backing from hydrocarbons powerhouses Abu Dhabi and Norway to extend its position in West and Central Africa. Drilling is planned, as is a new effort to develop Nigeria’s Aje field, writes James Gavin

Weeks after his inevitable election victory, President Denis Sassou Nguesso celebrated 37 years in power by naming a new prime minister, Anatole Collinet Makosso, to head a government that includes four ministers of state, 30 ministers and two junior ministers.

President Denis Sassou Nguesso launched the construction of a new refinery on 21 February as he continued to campaign for the presidential election on 21 March.

Domestic consumption has reached a new record of 550MW – with most demand in the main cities of Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire – compared to national generation capacity of only around 400MW from Republic of Congo’s main power stations, state Société Energie Electrique du Congo (E2C) distribution director Jules Saturnin Souka told African Energy. Solutions include installing a third gas turbine at Eni’s gas-fired plant in Pointe-Noire – expected later this year – and strengthening the national transmission and urban distribution network, for which funding has been sought.

National oil company Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo (SNPC) has taken over operating assets previously held by Eni, as the Italian major scales down all but its core assets in Republic of Congo. Eni Congo’s decision to pull out of the 39.25km2 Zingali and 61.17km2 Loufika blocks was presented to the council of ministers by hydrocarbons minister Jean-Marc Thystère-Tchicaya on 23 September, with the recommendation that SNPC takes over the assets.

Debt restructurings and budget cuts, and reform commitments still to be implemented: in many respects, newsflow from Republic of Congo is much as usual. However, the coronavirus lockdown and oil price slump have severely exacerbated the problems confronting President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s government and the population’s daily lives.

In what seems a spectacular development for a government struggling with the consequences of the oil price crash and industry slowdown, an 18 April cabinet meeting chaired by President Denis Sassou Nguesso approved the gazetting of two new production-sharing contracts (PSCs), which should deliver large signature bonus and other payments.

Brazzaville has made significant moves towards unwinding its complex debt burden with the surprise announcement on 7 April that it had reached agreement on its outstanding debt to traders Glencore and Trafigura, and local financier Lucien Ebata’s Orion Oil. The deal, signed by Prime Minister Clément Mouamba, involves a 30% debt haircut and four months’ grace before repayments start in October.

President Denis Sassou Nguesso on 17 February inaugurated a 170MW third turbine at Eni’s Centrale Electrique du Congo (CEC) gas-fired power plant at Côte Matève, in Pointe-Noire’s Arrondissement 6-Ngoyo (Djéno) area. Sassou made the opening a centrepiece of his first visit to the port city in several years, as he seeks to build popular support ahead of presidential elections next year.CEC is now the country’s biggest power producer. Its GT1 and GT2 turbines, which came into service in November 2010, have 314MW installed capacity.

Viewed from the 4th Congo International Oil & Gas Conference & Exhibition (CIEHC4) in the Turkish-built Kintélé conference centre outside Brazzaville, there should be little of major concern to Republic of Congo’s oil industry. France’s Total and Italy’s Eni have numerous projects under way and newcomers like Russian billionaire Vagit Alekperov’s Lukoil, US independent Kosmos Energy and trader Mercuria’s upstream arm are bedding in, while local firms led by Africa Oil and Gas Corporation (AOGC) and Petro Congo (Petco) are taking up ever more acreage.