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Marathon Oil Corporation announced on 14 July that it has achieved first gas production through its new Alba B3 offshore compression platform. Production from the B3 platform allows Marathon to convert some 130m boe of proved undeveloped reserves, more than doubling the company’s remaining reserve base in Equatorial Guinea. “The Alba B3 compression project will allow us to maintain plateau production for the next two years, mitigating base decline, while extending the Alba field’s life by up to eight years,” said Marathon vice-president, conventional, Mitch Little.

The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Royal Dutch Shell on 4 July following the Anglo-Dutch company’s acquisition of BG Group. The MoU will enable greater collaboration between the two parties on numerous oil and gas-related projects, the ministry said. BG has a 17-year purchase agreement for all liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced by the EGLNG facility since 2007. “In addition to Shell’s heightened focus on existing activities in Equatorial Guinea’s oil and gas sector, the MoU facilitates the future entry of the firm into new hydrocarbons projects,” the ministry said.

The government on 6 June launched its 2016 licensing round, offering all 37 of the country’s open blocks. The launch took place in Cape Town, and roadshows will be held in London on 20-21 June, in Singapore on 20-23 September, in Istanbul during the World Energy Congress on 9-13 October and finally in Houston in November. The blocks on offer include Block A-12, which was recently relinquished by Marathon, while Glencore’s former EG-05 has been subdivided into smaller blocks.

The government will officially launch a new oil and gas licensing round, known as EG Ronda 2016, at the Africa Oil & Power conference on 6-7 June at the Westin Hotel in Cape Town. The Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy said in October 2015 that it planned a bid round this year, offering all remaining deep and ultra-deepwater blocks. The last bid round in 2014 offered all the country’s open acreage, with four blocks next to existing discoveries offered for direct negotiation and the others for competitive bidding.

Schlumberger has pulled out of Ophir Energy’s Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project after failing to agree terms, but Ophir says it is in talks with other potential partners and expects a final investment decision (FID) in Q4 this year.Ophir announced a non-binding heads of terms agreement with Schlumberger in January for upstream participation. Ophir said Schlumberger had completed technical due diligence but the companies had been unable to finalise the transaction.

State-owned Riaba Fertilizers Limited has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for a new petrochemicals complex to a Chinese consortium led by East China Engineering Science and Technology Company (ECEC). The complex, planned to be built at Riaba, on the south-east coast of Bioko Island, will comprise an ammonia and urea plant with production capacity of 1.5m t/yr. A gas supply agreement for gas from fields east of Bioko Island is in place with the Block O and I operator Noble Energy and its partners Gunvor, Atlas Petroleum International and Glencore. Pre-front end engineering design work has been completed by WorleyParsons.

Equatorial Guinea on 26 January inaugurated a compressed natural gas (CNG) plant powering a fleet of public buses. The plant, located next to the Punta Europa gas complex to the west of Malabo, includes a bus terminal and a gas-powered bus fleet, cooking gas bottling facility, and upgraded road infrastructure. Faced with declining oil reserves and falling revenues, the government has been keen to find ways to monetise its remaining hydrocarbons.

The government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ONGC Videsh, the international arm of India’s state Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, on wide-ranging co-operation in upstream, midstream and downstream projects. The MoU was signed in New Delhi by mines, industry and energy minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima and ONGC Videsh managing director Narendra K Verma on the eve of the India-Africa Hydrocarbons Conference in the city on 21-22 January.

Ophir Energy has signed heads of agreements (HoAs) for liquefied natural gas (LNG) offtake from the Fortuna floating LNG project with six counterparties, all of whom are established LNG buyers in European and Asian markets.The company said it had revised down its estimate of the gross capital expenditure required to first gas from $800m to $600m, based on recent input from the upstream front-end engineering design (FEED) work.

The UK’s Sterling Energy has expressed concern that Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH) is listing the Ntem Block as open. AIM-listed Sterling is in dispute with SNH over the block, where the company declared force majeure in May 2014 due to overlapping border claims by Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea. Sterling’s former partner Murphy Oil drilled the unsuccessful Bamboo well in an undisputed area of the licence in 2014 and withdrew in February this year. “Sterling is disappointed that SNH and the Ministry have decided to try to promote the Ntem concession as available to the market,” said chief executive Eskil Jersing.

The Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy has announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gunvor Group, Nigeria’s Taleveras Group and South Africa’s Strategic Fuel Fund to expand its plans for a crude oil and petroleum products storage tank farm on Bioko Island. In an expansion of the previous project plan, the terminal will incorporate a significant amount of crude oil storage space, as well as storage for petroleum products. The MoU establishes the terms of co-operation between the ministry and the three companies.

Nigeria’s RoyalGate Energy has said it will drill a well on Block Z in Q1 2016 but declined to comment on whether it had secured a rig. RoyalGate said the Z-1 well would target the Tulip Upper Isongo discovery and Tulip Massive Isongo prospect. “Unfortunately, we cannot give out information about the rig contract at this time,” the company told African Energy.

Ophir Energy said on 9 July that it has awarded upstream front-end engineering and design (FEED) contracts for the Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project in Block R to two contractor consortia. The company says it is considering a second FLNG vessel on the development, while still looking to bring in a farm-in partner before its planned final investment decision (FID) in mid-2016.The upstream FEED contract, awarded to McDermott Marine Construction Ltd with GE Oil & Gas UK Ltd, and Subsea 7 with Aker Solutions, will be a competitive process, with the scope of work including subsea development design.

The Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy has announced new appointments and department mergers in a bid to streamline its operations. Minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima has named Jose Manuel Abaga Mba as his chief of staff, replacing Lucas Nguema Mbulito, who recently became chief executive of state power company Segesa. Mercedes Eworo Milam has been named director of petroleum economics, replacing Tomás Felix Ongo Ehapo, and will retain her position as director-general of hydrocarbons, representing a merger of the hydrocarbons and petroleum economics portfolios.

Ophir Energy said on 5 May that it had signed a binding heads of terms for a midstream chartering and operating services agreement with London-based Golar LNG. The agreement establishes key commercial terms for Golar to build, operate and maintain a floating liquefaction and storage vessel and facilities for Ophir’s operated Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project in Block R. The vessel to be used will be Golar’s Gimi FLNG vessel. A previous memorandum of understanding signed with Excelerate Energy on 6 November has been terminated by mutual agreement, Ophir said.