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French partnership agreement; Sudan and China have signed eight agreements

Former GNPC head jailed; Winfield wins approvals for refinery project; Abu Dhabi plans refinery; Chemical distribution deal; Petronas puts refinery on hold

The start of exploration on Block 5B has yielded two dry wells, but Lundin Petroleum is optimistic that the WNPOC grouping can replicate the success of Block 5A despite the physical and political challenges of operating in a vast but isolated region of southern Sudan, writes Thalia Griffiths.

China’s Sinohydro Corporation and China International Water and Electric Corporation (CWE) have signed a contract worth $396m to raise the height of the Roseires dam on the Blue Nile. The contract, signed on 27 April, will increase the dam’s height by ten metres, doubling the power generation potential of the 280MW plant in southern Sudan.

CityView to work with local operator; PA completes MPS farm-in; Dry well on WEEM; Noble spuds Benita appraisal; Chinese partners; New reconnaissance licence for Czechs; Kunene well spuds; Key teams up with Pancontinental; Tower Block 5 drilling plans

Lundin Petroleum has spudded an exploration well in the swamp area of Block 5B.

Al-Thani has pulled out of Sudan, selling its stake to Kuwait’s Kharafi Group, as Gulf investors confirm their status as key investors in regional exploration, writes Eleanor Gillespie.

Perenco to supply gas to Kribi plant; OCI to build Sidi Krir project; Chinese commit to $90m rural electrification scheme; Steel company orders equipment; HCB resumes supply to Zesa; Arab fund provides Roseires funding

In addition to major state companies that have long been regarded as major Gulf investors abroad, such as Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec), a number of Kuwait-based companies have been established in recent years with aspirations to become major E&P companies by investing in Africa and other emerging frontiers.

The World Bank Group has approved a $41.05m loan towards the financing of a planned interconnection between Ethiopia and Sudan as part of the Nile Basin Initiative. The loan to the Ethiopian government will help it finance its portion of the interconnector. The transmission line will run between the Ethiopian towns of Bahir-Dar and Metema, and up to the border with Sudan to connect the countries’ grids.

Kenya saw a rush to award new exploration licences before the elections because a change of government tends to slow the decision-making process. New arrivals included Sweden’s Lundin Petroleum, also present in neighbouring Sudan, and Canada’s Vangold Resources (AE 125/1).

As they hurtle round the earth 16 times a day at a height of 220 miles, the astronauts of the International Space Station are, among other tasks, photographing vast, previously unknown, and very large scale geological formations capable of assisting oil geologists in their understanding of continental sedimentary basins.

Lundin Oil chairman Adolf Lundin has said he would welcome a formal inquiry by the Swedish government into his company’s operations in Sudan following a critical new report by Christian Aid reviving the controversy over the role of foreign oil companies in funding the government’s war against southern rebels.