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Gabon Power Company (GPC) and France-based investment fund Meridiam signed an agreement to finance the 35MW Kinguélé Aval hydroelectric plant on 2 July in Libreville.

A dispute over maritime rights between Equatorial Guinea and Gabon in Corisco Bay is heading for the courts, with implications for the exploration and development of hydrocarbons resources. The dispute between the two countries dates back to the early 1970s and centres on three uninhabited islands, Mbanié and the two tiny neighbouring islets of Conga and Les Cocotiers, which both sides claim.

Panoro Energy chief executive John Hamilton seems more focused on Equatorial Guinea and Gabon than Tunisia (see above), following the Oslo Stock Exchange-listed minnow’s recent acquisition of Tullow Oil’s Central African assets AE 439/21, 432/20.

The 400kW Ndjolé hybrid solar power plant is to be commissioned in July, according to press reports citing comments by energy and water minister Alain Claude Bilié By Nze.

Opec’s second smallest producer faces a slow decline in output while it tries to revive international interest in its maturing fields after a planned 35-block licensing round was torpedoed by Covid-19, writes James Gavin Gabonese crude oil production fell by a further 6% last year, to an average of 195,000 b/d, and the latest Opec figures show the slide accelerated in Q1 2021, when just 181,000 b/d was produced. There was a slight increase, to 185,000 b/d, in April but that still means Gabonese production is down 50% from its 1997 peak of 370,000 b/d.

Houston-based Vaalco has named George Maxwell as chief executive. A non-executive director since last June, UK-based Maxwell replaces Cary Bounds at the Gabon-focused company’s head. With a dual listing on the London Stock Exchange, the Vaalco board said it intends to open a business development office in London and appoint a chief financial officer to be based in the UK.    

Gabon-focused Vaalco Energy has said the company is looking for a merger with a similar-sized company to deliver further growth, following its acquisition of Sasol’s shares in the Etame Marin and DE-8 licences last year.

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.

Vaalco Energy has announced the completion of a 3D seismic survey over the Etame Marin Block ahead of new drilling planned for late 2021 or early 2022. Vaalco said the survey of nearly 1,000km2 would be used to optimise and de-risk future drilling locations and potentially identify new sites. The survey will also enhance sub-surface imaging by merging legacy data with the newly acquired seismic, allowing for the first continuous 3D seismic over the entire block.

The United Kingdom’s Renewable Energy Performance Platform on 11 December announced that it had signed an agreement to invest £1m equity in renewable-powered battery rental company Mobile Power.

Vaalco picks up Sasol stakes Vaalco Energy announced an agreement on 17 November to acquire Sasol Gabon’s stakes in the Etame Marin and DE-8 blocks for up to $50m. The Houston-based company said the transaction would almost double its production and reserves on Etame. 

Société d’Energie et d’Eau du Gabon (SEEG) is rehabilitating the 5MW Bongolo hydropower plant in Ngounié province with the aim of restoring its installed capacity and improving supply in the region. The project, which will cost nearly CFAF7bn ($12.7m) to be financed entirely by the utility, will entail replacing the plant’s five turbines, including automation and control systems, as well as the complete upgrading of units G1 and G2 and all hydro-mechanical structures.

Preliminary construction works for Gabon’s first IPP project are under way following the signing on 27 October of an engineering, procurement and construction contract between project company Asonha Energie and Chinese state-owned contractor Sinohydro. Full construction of the 35MW Kinguélé Aval hydroelectric plant on the Mbei River in north-western Gabon, some 100km from the capital Libreville, is expected to begin early next year once financing has been closed, Mathieu Peller, chief operating officer Africa for Paris-based infrastructure investment fund Meridiam, told African Energy.

Total’s 58%-owned affiliate Total Gabon has signed an agreement with mature fields specialist Perenco to sell its interests in seven mature non-operated offshore fields, along with its interest and operatorship in the Cap Lopez oil terminal.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is considering supporting the construction of the 34MW Kinguélé Aval. The private investment arm of the World Bank disclosed on 18 June that it will propose an A Loan of up to €40m, a senior concessional loan from IFC as implementing entity of the Canada-IFC Renewable Energy Program for Africa of up to $25m as well as risk management products such as interest rate and/or cross currency swaps.