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The Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland on 4 February said it had examined a criminal complaint filed by the London-based NGO Corruption Watch and Angola’s Associação Mãos Livres regarding a 1990s debt deal between Angola and Russia, and had decided that no further action would be taken. “The events surrounding the repayment to Russia of Angolan government debts, dating back to Soviet times, shall therefore not result in further criminal investigations in Switzerland,” the office said. A 166-page report, ‘Deception in High Places: The Corrupt Angola-Russia Debt Deal’, released by Corruption Watch in April 2013 detailed how, in 1996, Angola restructured $5bn of its Soviet-era debt

Odebrecht Angola subsidiary Odebrecht Infraestrutura is installing equipment to stabilise electrical power supply from hydroelectric plants in Zaire Province. The company said it would start work this month installing two sets in Soyo, two in Nzeto and one in Capari. Three similar systems were installed in July 2013 in Viana, Capanda and Uíge, in partnership with power company Empresa Nacional de Electricidade. The Brazilian company is planning a 110kV substation at its Biocom sugar venture. It will increase the Cacuso substation’s output to 110kV and build a power line between the two substations, a distance of 19km.

Cobalt International Energy has announced a first discovery in the syn-rift interval in the Bicuar #1A pre-salt deep-water exploratory well on Block 21. The well was drilled to a depth of 5,739 metres and encountered 56 metres of oil and condensate pay from multiple pre-salt intervals. This is the fourth deep-water pre-salt discovery offshore Angola by Sonangol and Cobalt, and the first discovery in the deeper pre-salt syn-rift reservoir. “The syn-rift discovery in Bicuar validates the presence of a viable seal and trap with quality reservoir rocks in the deeper reservoir section,” said Cobalt chief exploration officer James Farnsworth.

Sonangol has announced its long-awaited onshore licensing round, offering acreage in the Kwanza and Lower Congo basins. A roadshow will be held in London on 21 February, postponed from 3 February. The round will offer ten blocks, seven in the Kwanza Basin and three in the Lower Congo. Another five blocks will be reserved for Sonangol. Seismic company PGS is brokering 2,500km of newly acquired 2D seismic over the Kwanza Basin area, south of Luanda. The onshore has seen little modern exploration, but PGS says 133 exploration/appraisal wells were drilled by Purfina, Petrangol and Total before the early 1970s, resulting in the discovery of 11 oilfields and two small gas accumulations with combined oil in place of about 400m barrels.

Angola has some very ambitious plans, but traditionally suffers from sliding deadlines, and it is unlikely to meet its most immediate target of doubling electricity generation by end-2014. Even so, a number of major schemes are lining up, including Cambambe II – for which HSBC is leading financing – and later in the decade the 2,070MW Luca hydroelectric power plant on the Kwanza River. A number of targets were written into the government’s 2013-17 Plan of Action for the Energy and Water Sector, drawn up by the Ministry of Energy and Water.

Three UK government ministries have launched the High Level Prosperity Partnerships, aiming to strengthen economic cooperation with Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mozambique and Tanzania. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office, UK Trade & Investment and the Department for International Development (DfID) will work together to identify opportunities to increase trade and investment, to harness what ministers describe as the UK’s “competitive advantage” amid growing competition from new investors in Africa as well as the continent’s traditional partners. The initiative follows a summit of the Group of Eight wealthiest countries in Northern Ireland in June, hosted by UK prime minister David Cameron, which gave its backing to the growing global transparency agenda with a ten-point plan covering a range of issues including tax evasion, payment transparency and ending barriers to free trade

Cobalt International Energy has announced discoveries from two pre-salt wells, Lontra on Block 20 and Mavinga on Block 21. Once testing is complete on Lontra, Cobalt plans to move the Petroserv SSV Catarina drilling rig to the Orca pre-salt exploration well, to be drilled on the Baleia prospect, 25km north-east of Lontra in Block 20. On Block 21, the Mavinga well, located 12.5km north-west of Cobalt’s 2012 Cameia discovery, encountered 30 metres of oil pay, though Cobalt was unable to establish a sustained flow rate from a full drill stem test (AE 253/11). 


Democratic Republic of Congo’s latest national conference has heard a call for a new push to settle the maritime border with Angola and enable the country to take a potential share of the region’s offshore oil. The ‘concertations nationales’ held from 7 September to 5 October in Kinshasa, gathered MPs, senators and civil society organisations to discuss the country’s political and economic future. Kinshasa University geologist Professor Ezequiel Kasongo Numbi Kashemukunda, a former MP of President Joseph Kabila’s Alliance de la Majorité Présidentielle and former diplomat, called on the government to stop wasting time and energy in trying to secure the recognition of its claims over the continental shelf beyond the 200-mile limit.

Total E&P Angola has given Fugro a three-year survey contract worth $26m to provide offshore positioning services and accurate navigation systems for Total E&P Angola’s drilling units, vessels and structures, together with onshore and offshore survey services. Fugro said the contract was a continuation of services supplied to Total E&P Angola under a similar contract since 2008.

A new company offers the opportunity to invest in hydrocarbons plays in aspiring independent states, which its chief executive says is a rare form of ethical oil and gas investment. Belize-registered Kilimanjaro Capital describes itself as the only publicly listed company focused on the acquisition and development of future contingent natural resource licences (FCLs). The Calgary-based company is concentrating on Biafra, Southern Cameroons and Cabinda. Chief executive Zulfikar Rashid told African Energy in an interview the FCLs assumed that a newly independent state would renegotiate oil and gas contracts on its territory, and that as part of that process a stake would be granted to Kilimanjaro in recognition of its support.

Operator Sonangol P&P is preparing to start a two-well exploration programme on the Cabinda Onshore North Block by the end of July. Partner SOCO International said final preparations were under way at the Dinge 20-6 and Dinge 20-7 well locations.

The World Bank’s Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (Miga) issued a guarantee of $511.8m to lead arranger HSBC Bank on 28 June, covering a non-shareholder loan and interest to the Ministry of Finance for the expansion of the Cambambe hydropower station. The coverage is for a period of 13 years against the risk of non-honouring of sovereign financial obligations.

Marathon Oil Corporation has agreed to sell its 10% stake in BP’s Block 31 to Sonangol Sinopec International (SSI) for $1.5bn. The transaction is subject to the relevant approvals and pre-emption rights, but is expected to close in Q4 2013, with an effective date of 1 January 2013. The SSI joint venture already has 5% in the block. “This transaction highlights the shareholder value we have created through exploration success in Angola, as well as our commitment to financial discipline and efforts to profitably grow the company,” said Marathon chairman Clarence Cazalot.

Chevron subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited on 16 June confirmed the start of initial production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Angola LNG plant at Soyo. The project will reduce the country’s reliance on oil revenue and monetise gas that had been flared, but has suffered delays and cost overruns. Production was slated to begin in Q4 2011 but was initially postponed until February, and then June 2012, when an electrical fire halted progress.

BP has given Aberdeenshire-based Proserv a contract to design and manufacture a subsea sampling system for the PSVM field development on Block 31. Proserv said the PSVM scheme, with a water depth of 2,000 metres, was believed to be the deepest offshore project in Africa. The sampling system will be designed, manufactured and assembled in Scotland.