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Norway’s BW Energy has started production from the  offshore Tortue Phase 2 field development. In a 20 October statement, the company said that hook-up of the final two production wells, DTM-6H and DTM-7H, had been completed and the DTM-7H well was online as of 19 October, with DTM-6H scheduled to come onstream later in October. Work on the two wells was suspended last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite this, BW said the Phase 2 development was completed below budget and within the revised timeframe.

Finland’s Wärtsilä and Gabon Power Company (GPC) announced the signing of an agreement with the government to develop, supply, build and operate a 120MW gas-fired power plant at Owendo on 23 September.

Panoro Energy, one of the partners alongside BW Energy and Gabon Oil Company in the Dussafu Marin Permit offshore Gabon, announced on 2 September that drilling operations had ended at the Hibiscus North exploration well. This followed the announcement on 24 August that the well had encountered an oil-bearing reservoir in the Upper Gamba Sandstone.

Houston-based Vaalco Energy’s Vaalco Gabon affiliate signed a binding letter of intent (LoI) on 25 August with World Carrier Offshore Services Corporation to provide and operate a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit at the Etame Marin field. The arrangement was approved by Vaalco’s partners on 31 August. It is for an initial eight years, with an option to extend. 

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.

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.

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.

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.