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Equatorial Guinea and Qatar signed a joint statement to establish diplomatic relations on 9 April, in a ceremony at Qatar’s delegation to the United Nations. The statement was signed by Equatorial Guinea’s UN ambassador Anatolio Ndong Mba and his Qatari counterpart Sheikha Alya Ahmed Bin Saif Al-Thani.

Chevron subsidiary Noble Energy on 26 February announced first gas from the Alen gas monetisation project in the Douala Basin. The project consists of a 70km pipeline built by Saipem with a capacity of 950mcf/d, carrying gas from the Alen field to be processed through existing facilities at Punta Europa.

Tullow Oil has agreed the sale of non-operated producing assets in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon to Panoro Energy for $180m as part of efforts to pay down its $2.4bn debt. The assets are Tullow’s stakes in the Ceiba field and Okume complex in Equatorial Guinea and the Dussafu licence in Gabon. Panoro is already a partner on Dussafu, which is operated by BW Offshore.

Saipem’s Castorone pipe-laying vessel has arrived offshore Equatorial Guinea to carry out installation work for a 70km gas pipeline to connect Noble Energy’s Alen field with gas processing facilities at Punta Europa. The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons said on 8 November the vessel’s arrival from the Spanish port of Escombreras marked the start of the backfilling project to replace declining production from the Alba field.

The government of Equatorial Guinea has received a CFA80bn ($138m) loan from the Development Bank of Central African States (BDEAC) to complete construction of the 200MW Sendje hydropower project. The project on the Wele River, about 40km east of the port city of Bata, is being carried out by the Ukrainian contractor Duglas Alliance under a turnkey contract at a total cost of more than CFA306bn.

While talking up its efforts to support the oil and gas industry through the current downturn with a two-year extension to all exploration contracts, the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons has published a new ministerial order that limits to three years the period during which companies can employ expatriate workers. “The order follows years of successful capacity building and training within local companies and local labour in Equatorial Guinea, which has made available a well-trained pool of local talent,” a ministry statement said.

The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons and Noble Energy and Marathon Oil’s Atlantic Methanol Production Company have given US company Nexant a contract to carry out a feasibility study for the construction of a formaldehyde production plant in Punta Europa. The ministry, which has been touting plans to develop a regional gas supply hub, also said on 13 May it had given UK consultancy Gas Strategies a contract for the development of a gas master plan. Equatorial Guinea needs to find new markets for its gas to replace sales into the US from the EGLNG plant as contracts expire.

The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons said on 23 April it had awarded Houston-based VFuels Oil & Gas Engineering a contract for a feasibility study for the construction of a modular refinery in Punta Europa. The study will examine the engineering and design of a 5,000 b/d modular refinery to supply refined products for domestic consumption, and is expected to be delivered within 12 weeks of the contract’s signature, the ministry said. The project forms part of the ministry’s Year of Investment 2020 initiative.

The governments of São Tomé and Príncipe and Equatorial Guinea have agreed to establish a joint exploration zone and to develop cross-border oil and gas reserves that may lie in the blocks bordering each country’s national waters.A statement on 18 March said the decision was taken during a meeting in Malabo between São Tomé minister of public works, infrastructures, natural resources and environment Osvaldo Abreu, and Equatorial Guinea minister of mines and hydrocarbons Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima.

Saipem has announced a contract with Noble Energy for the offshore installation of a 70km gas pipeline connecting the Alen platform to Punta Europa to supply gas from the Alen field to the Alba liquefied petroleum gas processing plant and the EGLNG facility. Project start-up is planned for H1 2021. The Alen development is the first step in plans for an offshore natural gas hub in Equatorial Guinea, opening the potential for future monetisation of additional discovered resources through existing infrastructure.

Trident Energy has announced that a 4D seismic survey began on 22 January on Block G. The acquisition is being carried out by Polarcus Naila and the survey is expected to take 45 days, covering an area of 340km2. A 4D survey consists of 3D data acquired at different times over the same area to assess changes in a producing hydrocarbon reservoir over time.

The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons says it has commissioned a feasibility study to examine the potential for converting the Atlantic Methanol Production Company (Ampco) plant at the Punta Europa gas complex on Bioko Island into a modular refinery. The methanol plant is part of the larger Punta Europa gas processing facility owned by Marathon Oil and its partners. Marathon holds a 45% share in the methanol plant, which is supplied by the declining Alba field.

The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with successful bidders from its 2019 licensing round during the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi.

The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons has announced nine block awards from the country’s 2019 licensing round. Russia’s Lukoil will develop the Fortuna field on Block EG-27 (formerly Block R), while Nigeria’s WalterSmith and Hong Kong-registered Hawtai Energy won Block EG-23, which contains the Estaurolita gas discovery. EG-27 and EG-23 were offered as appraisal/development blocks while the other 24 blocks in the bid round were offered for exploration.

The government has received 21 bids for 14 of the 27 blocks offered in its licensing round, which closed in September, and plans to announce awards in Malabo on 26 November. Speaking during a country presentation at Africa Oil Week on 7 November, energy and mines minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima said bids for EG-27, EG-23, EG-18, EG-09, EG-03, EG-04 and EG-29 had been fully evaluated and would be signed by the end of November while the rest would need more time.