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Austria’s OMV has made a condensate and gas find with the Sourour-1 exploration well in the Jenein Sud exploration permit, the fourth discovery in the permit within the last two years.

Canadian upstream junior Calvalley Petroleum has signed an agreement for the exploration, development and production of the Gimbi and Metema blocks, in the west adjacent to the border with Sudan. The blocks fall under a single contract that covers a total area of some 46,470km2.

rance’s Vergnet has signed a E210m ($286m) contract with Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) to supply 120 wind turbines for what it says is sub-Saharan Africa’s largest wind farm, to be developed at Ashegoda, in the northern highlands.

Ultra-deep find for BP, deep discovery for Eni; Roc drilling; NW Gemsa well hits oil, gas; Lundin PSC farm-out; MPDC seeks partners, New Maurel & Prom find; Petronas signs for two Rovuma Basin blocks

The African Development Bank’s soft lending arm, the African Development Fund, has approved a combined loan and grant of $32.57m towards the cost of the Ethiopia-Djibouti interconnector (AE 123/4).

DR CONGO: Oil Ministry to meter production; EQUATORIAL GUINEA: CNOOC rig contract; ETHIOPIA: Aero survey plans; LIBYA: More RWE discoveries; LIBYA: Hellenic sells up; LIBYA: Punj Lloyd rig contract; NAMIBIA: Seismicl plans; SIERRA LEONE: Elixir hits snag on SL-4; TUNISIA: Ashtart upgrade contract

Epsilon Energy International Ltd has hired New Resolution Geophysics from South Africa to conduct a 27,500km2 aero-gravity and aeromagnetic survey over a portion of its Northwest Study Area. The survey is expected to start in October. The US company, which also has acreage in Yemen, signed a one-year study agreement for the 154,872km2 area in the north-west of the country in June.

Bouygues Construction unit ETDE has won a €50m ($71m) contract to renovate the grid in Addis Ababa (AE 123/1). The capital’s mainly overhead power lines are to be replaced by a more secure, mainly underground network to improve power supply to the city’s 4m inhabitants. ETDE said work on the World Bank-financed project had already begun and was expected to take 22 months.

Falcon Petroleum Ltd, a company with Middle Eastern backing said to be registered in Cyprus, has been awarded three blocks in Amhara Regional State. Minister of Mines and Energy Alemayehu Tegenu said the initial exploration period was four years.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy and the US’ Titan Resources Corporation, owned by Nelson ‘Bunker’ Hunt, have signed two production-sharing agreements covering acreage in the Ogaden and Abay basins, which were offered in an open tender earlier this year (AE 141/18).

CBM pilot drilling; EEPCo seeks Gilgel Gibe 3 links;Accra looks to nuclear power; Gurara Falls HEP scheme; Rural electrification tenders; Gariep hydro rehab; AfDB financing

Cabinda South find, Lukoil plans, Lotshi survey, RWE gas find in North El Amriya, Woodside find in Libya; Sweden’s PA Resources has spudded a second well on the Didon field; Eurogas drills on Sfax permit

India’s Reliance Power Ltd (RPL) is planning to set up gas-fired power plants in Ethiopia, India’s Mint business newspaper reported. The government would supply the gas and Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) would offtake the power under a tolling arrangement

Global Energy is planning to plant castor as the first stage of a project to produce non-edible oil for the biodiesel industry. The Mozambique government has signed an agreement with Oilmoz to build a 350,000 b/d oil refinery. Sasol has selected Foster Wheeler South Africa to carry out a pre-feasibility study for the proposed Project Mafutha coal-to-liquids (CTL) facility .

As intrepid IOCs, most of them minnows, dip a toe into Ethiopia and Eritrea, and make plays to secure potential future reserves in Somalia and its autonomous territories, the Horn may yet prove to be the last productive frontier in the annals of African oil search. African Energy last issue reported from fractured Somalia’s Puntland territory. Below, Eleanor Gillespie analyses E&P prospects in Ethiopia and Eritrea, while Nadine Marroushi reports on developments in Somaliland.