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The World Bank Group (WBG) on 17 February approved an International Bank for Reconstruction and Development loan worth $250m for the $417m Electricity Sector Improvement and Access Project (ESIAP) in Angola. The French Development Agency is providing the remaining $167m for the project, which is expected to run until September 2026.

Chevron subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited has given Subsea 7 a contract for the Sanha Lean Gas Connection project in Block 0. The work comprises the construction and installation of a lean gas platform system at a water depth of approximately 70 metres. The lean gas platform is planned as a fixed-leg structure bridge-connected to the existing Sanha condensate complex. Gas from the Sanha field, which started condensate production in 2005, will be supplied to the Angola LNG plant at Soyo.

Policymakers agree more action is needed to counter debt distress and unlock funds for the energy transition, but there are few signs that a more effective financial architecture will emerge any time soon. Meanwhile concerns over rising sovereign debt are feeding into hesitancy over new lending, writes Jon Marks.

The National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) announced on 31 December that it would formally launch its postponed 2020 licensing round covering onshore blocks in the Lower Congo and Kwanza basins on 30 April. A formal launch had been planned for May 2020 but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Renewables developer Total Eren and Luanda-based Greentech (Angola Environment Technology) have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Energy and Water for the development of a 35MWp solar PV plant at Lubango, Huila province.

Investors, contractors and financiers have been reassessing southern Africa’s potential to emerge as a natural gas producer, supply hub and importer of molecules and electrons for gas-to-power (GTP) schemes. Mozambique’s emergence as an LNG exporter gives it potential to develop new gas-based industry and infrastructure. Developments in southern Mozambique further suggest it could drive a wider regional industry, with more gas exported by pipeline.

London-based investment firm Gemcorp Capital and state oil company Sonangol announced a final investment decision on 30 October for construction of a 60,000 b/d refinery at Cabinda. Sonangol and the Hong Kong-based United Shine consortium signed a deal to build the refinery in June 2019, but that deal was cancelled in December and a new agreement was signed with Gemcorp.

ExxonMobil has signed risk service contracts with the National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) for three blocks in the unexplored Namibe Basin offshore southern Angola. ExxonMobil will operate blocks 30, 44 and 45 with a 60% stake. Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção will hold the other 40%. The blocks cover an area totalling 17,800km2, located 50km-100km from the Angolan coast, in a water depth of between 1,500 metres and more than 3,000 metres.

The National Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) launched a tender on 31 August inviting bids for the evaluation of marginal fields. The tender is open to Angolan and international bidders.ANPG told African Energy it had identified the marginal fields to be evaluated, but did not give details. It said the tender was aimed at “all companies interested in marginal fields assessment”.

Qatar Petroleum has reached agreement with Sonangol and Total to farm into ultra-deep-water Block 48, taking 30%. Total, which will remain as operator with 40%, plans a well on the block as part of its 2020-21 drilling programme.

The National Oil, Gas and Biofuels Agency (ANPG) has announced the start-up of the Nsinga oilfield on Block 0, offshore Cabinda province. The field, operated by Chevron’s Cabinda Gulf Oil Company Limited, is the first oil field in the Block 0 concession to start production following the approval of Presidential Legislative Decree No 6/18,of May 2018, which governs incentives for the development of marginal fields, ANPG said.

Rede Nacional de Transporte de Electricidade (RNT) invites prequalification bids by 10 August for the construction of the 400kV Huambo-Lubango transmission line and associated substations. The contract, to be financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) within the framework of the Energy Sector Efficiency and Expansion Programme (ESEEP), entails the construction of the 343km of Central-South transmission line and a new 400/220/60kV, 2x450 MVA substation at Lubango and the upgrading of an existing 400kV substation in Huambo, as well as the installation of a supervisory control and data acquisition system.

President João Lourenço appointed new boards of directors on 19 May for Empresa Pública de Produção de Electricidade (Prodel) and Empresa Nacional de Distribuição de Electricidade (Ende). A presidential statement said the changes were for operational reasons but observers linked them to longstanding financial and operating problems at the parastatals, which were established in 2014 along with transmission company Rede Nacional de Transporte de Electricidade (RNT), following the unbundling of Empresa Nacional de Electricidade.

The National Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) has released the data package for its 2020 licensing round covering onshore blocks in the Lower Congo and Kwanza basins. Companies can express interest via the ANPG website, www.anpg.co.ao.A formal launch had been planned for the end of May but ANPG said on 28 May that “some adjustments” were necessary due to the coronavirus pandemic, though the agency said it wanted to keep to its previously announced bidding schedules.

Faced with global oversupply of crude, Sonangol and Puma Energy have agreed to use the Pumangol fuel terminal in Luanda to create a strategic fuel reserve for the country. Sonangol’s Girassol vessel carried out the first unloading operation at the terminal on 21 April, Angop reported.