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Savannah Energy has signed share purchase agreements (SPAs) with Sinopec and its local partner Jagal to acquire the 49% remaining interest in Sinopec International Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Nigeria Ltd (Sipec). Sipec’s principal asset is a 49% non-operated stake in the Stubb Creek oil and gas field in Akwa Ibom state.

Climate Fund Managers and Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund have invested $18m in UK-based Konexa to finance the launch of its renewable energy trading platform, with Nigerian Breweries the first customer. Konexa initially plans to wheel power across the national grid to two Nigerian Breweries’ facilities.

A planned $187m financing deal between London AIM-listed San Leon Energy and Tri Ri Asset Management has foundered, with the New York-based finance house blaming regulatory and compliance problems.

Commissioning of Geometric’s 141MW Aba gas-to-power plant adds sorely-needed on-grid capacity.  Selling to its own ringfenced distribution network, Aba also points to a potential new model of vertical integration. Meanwhile, the Tinubu government’s bold macro reforms have contributed to a significant economic crisis. It is nonetheless pushing on with efforts to repay $2.16bn owed to IPPs, although some question where the money will come from, write Leonard Lawal in Lagos and Marc Howard.

The economic logic of the subsidy cuts, devaluation and other reforms enacted after President Bola Ahmed Tinubu took over on Aso Rock in mid-2023 was clear: the fuel subsidy alone was costing some $10bn/yr, risking state insolvency. But the consequences of Tinubu’s reforms have caused immense difficulties for a majority of Nigeria's estimated 226m population, as the price of staples soars.

French energy major TotalEnergies plans to add 14,000 b/d of condensate output by mid-2024 and up to 4 mcm/d of gas by 2028 from the south-eastern Nigerian field.

Shell is selling Nigerian subsidiary SPDC, with the onshore and shallow-water operator going to a consortium of local companies allied to industry veteran Samuel Dossou-Aworet for a sum of up to $2.4bn the supermajor is helping to fund. While Shell is retaining some other valuable Nigerian assets, it adds to a trend of international majors exiting all but their big deep-water oil and gas plays, following recent deals by ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and Eni. African Energy analyses several aspects of a complex deal.

Shell’s creation in 1907, as a rival to American behemoth Standard Oil, produced an Anglo-Dutch company looking for global reach. Its presence in Nigeria dates back to 1936, when Shell D’Arcy was established, which was followed by a joint venture with another major, BP’s precursor company.

Disbursement of the first tranche of Afreximbank’s $3.3bn crude-for-finance deal will help to ease Abuja’s immediate financial difficulties, as the Tinubu administration needs all the help it can get to alleviate a cost of living crisis that threatens to alienate the president’s support base and derail essential reforms.

It is unlikely electric cars will come to dominate African roads for decades, but in the likes of Kenya and Benin battery-powered buses, motorbikes and industrial vehicles could have a radical impact on urban environments and commercial operations. Investors are lining up to support e-mobility projects in the most attractive markets, but in many jurisdictions the lack of capital, infrastructure and policy support and the high cost of vehicles are holding back what could be a revolution, write Tonderayi Mukeredzi and Jon Marks.

Aliko Dangote’s eventual 650,000 b/d capacity plant has received 6m barrels of crude to date and is about to start producing diesel, aviation fuel and liquified petroleum gas.

Equinor’s proposed sale of its Nigerian operations to a local buyer adds to a growing trend for IOCs to withdraw from the  upstream sector, allowing domestic players to step in, even if access to finance and other obstacles may still need to be overcome, writes James Gavin.

Petralon Energy founder and chief executive Ahonsi Unuigbe has told African Energy he is on a mission to boost the role of indigenous companies in an oil and gas sector that accounts for 90% of Nigeria’s exports.

The final COP28 communiqué included – for the first time – a commitment to eventually phase out fossil fuels, going beyond previous declarations that focused on coal. However, there are few signs that Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) members and their Opec+ allies, led by Russia, have any intention of allowing their core source of revenues to disappear anytime soon. So what can we learn from recent statements by oil producers – including Opec+’s quota commitments at a meeting on 30 November – and from leaks and comments made during COP28?

Nigeria's  Rural Electrification Agency (REA) has announced a construction start at two off-grid solar PV systems in the Federal Capital Territory, backed by $12.4m from the South Korean government.