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Chariot has plugged its RZK-1 well in Morocco’s Loukos onshore licence area after deciding its gas was uneconomic to develop, but the British indie has quickly moved on to drill the nearby OBA-1 exploration well.

A major source of natural gas for South Africa could be constrained as soon as 2025, with declining reserves at Mozambique’s Pande and Temane fields potentially leading to supply shortages. South Africa will need to secure new sources of feedstock if it is to develop the gas-to-power projects that many see as essential to provide baseload for the renewable energy sector that African Energy Live Data shows is gaining momentum.

French energy giant Engie is aiming to offload a minority stake in the 1,250MW Safi coal-fired plant as part of a wider shift away from coal and towards renewable energy.

Sound Energy has applied to enter the Anoual project’s second phase, which includes drilling an initial exploration well, while two other UK-listed indies have also been progressing their drilling campaigns with Chariot starting to drill a well on its Loukos onshore licence and SDX preparing to sidetrack a recently completed well in pursuit of a gas formation.

SDX Energy will receive $6.6m for its stakes in West Gharib blocks G and H. A deal to sell its other Egyptian asset, South Disouq, is still the subject of negotiations. The Egypt exit will allow the London AIM-listed firm to focus on its operations in Morocco.

Moroccan plans to build regasification plants to supply Onee’s existing and planned CCGT power stations have been mooted for more than a decade, but could now finally be moving ahead, with government commitments to build an LNG import unit at Nador, with other schemes to follow.

London-listed Energean has taken on the operatorship of the Lixus and Rissana licence areas, alongside partners Chariot and state-owned Onhym

SDX Energy has spudded the Beni Malek-2 (BMK-2) well in the Rharb Basin. The London AIM-listed company has reported an ‘immediate and increasing’ local demand for its gas in Morocco.

Saudi operator Acwa Power said the Noor 3 CSP plant at Ouarzazate would be closed until November after a leak in its hot molten salts tank used to store energy.

While Gulf national oil companies like QatarEnergy and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) have focused most of their attention on Africa's upstream oil and gas opportunities there are still openings for investors in Africa’s refining sector.

Slow progress at some of sub-Saharan Africa’s most high-profile LNG developments come as exporters from other parts of the world race to sign new long-term deals with buyers from Asia and Europe. The risk for African producers is that they could miss out on lucrative opportunities, costing governments large amounts in lost foreign earnings, writes Marc Howard*.

Algeria is squeezing whatever gas it can out of the system for export and Morocco is looking at different options for its smaller reserves, but Libya and Egypt face bigger challenges still, with the bare minimum export LNG leaving Egyptian terminals this year.

Hopes that a buyer would emerge to take over Morocco’s mothballed Samir refinery have not been fulfilled, while arbitration proceedings enter a sixth year over Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi’s controversial asset in Mohammedia.

New Lixus licence operator Energean expects the gas play’s speedy monetisation, with appraisal drilling slated for later this year at the 18bcm Anchois field. The project's developers point to considerable existing gas-to-power and industrial demand, while the nearby GME pipeline could allow for some modest export sales to Europe.

London AIM-listed indie Chariot is planning an initial two-well exploration drilling campaign, but has approval for 17 other candidate well locations and re-entry of an existing gas discovery.