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Australia’s Invictus Energy has extended the contract for Exalo’s Rig 202 to allow further drilling in Muzarabani. That leaves Helium One needing another rig for its Tanzania drilling campaign.

The target of finalising a host government agreement for the $30bn Lindi liquified natural gas (LNG) project by December was missed, due to the complexity of the negotiations.

London AIM-listed and Tanzania-focused explorer Helium One has reported that the Exalo rig due to be mobilised to its Rukwa licence in early 2023 is no longer available, after the current operator extended its contract.

Australian Securities Exchange-listed EcoGraf expects to sign a framework agreement with the Tanzanian government for its Epanko graphite project in early 2023.

London AIM-listed Helium One Global says it is on course to spud a well in Q1 2023, aimed at proving a helium discovery at the Tai prospect in Tanzania’s Rukwa Basin.

The offer by French independent Maurel & Prom (M&P) to acquire London AIM-listed Wentworth Resources for £61.7m ($75m) in cash is a further sign of the drive for consolidation among smaller exploration and production companies in Tanzania’s upstream sector.

The sale of London AIM-listed Scirocco Energy’s 25% interest in the Ruvuma production-sharing agreement (PSA) to Ara Petroleum Tanzania (APT) is set to go ahead after the country’s Fair Competition Commission (FCC) approved the transaction.

Graphite production has not yet started, but Tanzania could become one of Africa’s leading exporters of the mineral, given most of its reserves are situated near existing road, rail and port links and the government’s licensing regime has proven attractive to investors. African Energy takes a look at the firms that have graphite developments at advanced stages in the country.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank)’s early October decision to commit $200m to the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) provided a valuable slug of support to a project that has become increasingly toxic to western banks and insurers.

Southern Africa leaders have made a joint appeal at COP27 for nearly $20bn from investors to complete electricity transmission interconnectors and fund new renewable energy projects, in part to increase energy capacity in the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

State-owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) has called for expressions of interest (EoI) for consultancy services for a 400kV Kisongo-Same-Segera transmission line and a 220kV line connecting Zanzibar and Mafia Island.

Europe’s hunger for non-Russian sources of natural gas has intensified diplomatic and commercial rivalries in the eastern Mediterranean, pushed ambitious schemes to the forefront, and raised the prospects of other African gas plays that were previously considered marginal. But it is not obvious that European governments or buyers are ready to plump for one favoured deal over the rest, meaning the gas could still go elsewhere.  

TotalEnergies is to face a group of environmental pressure groups in a French court on 7 December, in a dispute over the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop) and Tilenga projects in Uganda and Tanzania.

Fresh criticism from the European Parliament of the controversial scheme to drill for oil in Lake Albert and export the crude to Tanzania via a 1,400km pipeline adds to pressures on the project’s shareholders. The reputational risk has made dozens of major banks and insurers distance themselves from the project, but Uganda and Tanzania remain adamant Eacop should go ahead, writes James Gavin.

Presidents Samia Suluhu Hassan and Filipe Nyusi on 20 September announced agreements to enhance defence and hydrocarbon co-operation between Tanzania and Mozambique.