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Luanda is gearing up for an active autumn, with international majors and domestic players honing in on one of the continent’s more vibrant exploration and production plays, writes James Gavin

Bidding is due to open in mid-October for partners to work with state Sonangol to design, build, own and operate an oil refinery at Lobito, in Benguela province, with a capacity to process up to 200,000 b/d to be installed in one or more phases. The winning partner to sign a memorandum of understanding in early November, followed by a partnership agreement by 1 February 2022.

The Economic Community of Central African States (Communauté Economique des États de l’Afrique Centrale or Ceeac) has drawn up a regional renewable energy strategy and plans to put in place a new structure to promote renewables and energy efficiency

Local companies dominated bid submissions in the onshore oil exploration round, which was delayed from 2020. State oil and gas agency Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis (National Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels – ANPG) said on 12 July that 16 firms, 13 of them Angolan, had presented investment proposals for oil exploration in the Lower Congo and Kwanza basins.

The national oil company’s strategy of selling non-core assets will provide Sonangol with funds to reinvest in the domestic oil and gas sector. This could bolster production, but it may not be enough to outweigh the decline in mature fields, writes James Gavin.

Former Tullow Oil chief executive Paul McDade has fashioned a new company to take advantage of the changing landscape in the continent’s oil and gas sector, he tells James Gavin.

Italy’s Eni seems gradually to be swallowing up BP’s African assets, with potential deals in Algeria and Angola building on a close relationship forged also in Egypt, Libya and Mozambique. These deals may be a sign of a deeper shake-out as European majors adapt to the demands of energy transition, writes James Gavin.

 The Angolan government and General Electric have succeeded in having a court case against them dismissed by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, after a judge ruled the dispute should be heard in courts in Angola.

Total announced on 6 May it had started production from the Zinnia Phase 2 short-cycle project in Block 17, connected to the existing Pazflor floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit. The project includes the drilling of nine wells; output is expected to reach 40,000 b/d by mid-2022.

Trafigura has signed an agreement to buy Sonangol’s 31.78% share in Puma Energy for $600m, taking its holding in the company to about 90%. At the same time, Puma Energy is selling its Angolan business and assets to Sonangol for the same amount, including the network of Pumangol service stations and its airport and marine terminals.

After a couple of delays, the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) finally got its roadshow covering nine onshore oil and gas blocks under way on 12 April. Speaking at the bidding roadshow for oil concessions in the Lower Congo and Kwanza Terrestrial Basins, mineral resources, oil and gas minister Diamantino Azevedo said the government was focused on the continuous improvement of the business environment to attract local and international investors.

As African Energy editor Thalia Griffiths leaves to explore new opportunities, colleagues asked for her take on developments after 23 years leading the publication. For all the tragedies like the current Ethiopian conflict, she sees real hope for a better future on a continent where, in many places, governance has improved and previously marginalised populations are becoming empowered to enact positive change.

New World Bank, AfDB and other facilities are providing international support for the government’s drive to increase access and connect Angola’s long-isolated regional grids. Greater private sector involvement and new renewables projects are part of the strategy to reform the sector, writes Camilla Nytun.

Sonangol announced on 16 March that San Jose, California-based Quanten LLC’s Quanten Consortium Angola subsidiary had been awarded a contract to finance, build, own and operate the Soyo refinery in Zaire province. As it seeks to raise funds by divesting non-core assets, Sonangol also announced its intention to sell Angola’s 20% stake in Abidjan refiner Société Ivoirienne de Raffinage.

There has been some respite for oil producers with crude rising above $60/bbl and Opec and its allies agreeing on 4 March to further stabilise the market by rolling over their quota regime (except for Russia and Kazakhstan, which Opec kingpin Saudi Arabia agreed could have increases while it maintained its extra 1m b/d cut). This will please price hawks who fear another slump later this year will further undermine oil producers’ economies; they are opposed by output hawks, who want to produce more oil to maximise their revenues now.