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The new African Union Commission (AUC), installed in March, is coming to grips with a dizzying number of dossiers under new secretary-general Moussa Faki Mahamat. New commissioners like Amani Abou-Zeid, responsible for infrastructure and energy, are expected to be more dynamic than their predecessors (Abou-Zeid replaces fellow Egyptian Elham Ibrahim, an AUC veteran). Mahamat may be a less divisive figure, and less focused on domestic political ambitions, than his South African predecessor Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma.

Cameron and Schlumberger company OneSubsea has been awarded a contract by BP Exploration (Delta) and its partner DEA to supply subsea production systems for the West Nile Delta Giza/Fayoum and Raven fields. Giza/Fayoum will be tied back to modified onshore Rosetta facilities and integrated with a new onshore plant for Raven. The scope of supply for the long-distance gas fields includes large-bore subsea trees, manifold systems incorporating high-integrity pressure protection systems for the high-pressure Raven field, connection systems, and controls systems, along with project engineering, management and testing. Pipelines and umbilicals will be supplied by Subsea 7.

Whoever emerges from the 7 December election that pits President John Dramani Mahama against New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate Nana Akufo-Addo will have to confront the build up of uncomfortable levels of external debt, poorly performing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and other weaknesses that undermine Ghana’s performance.In meetings with bankers and investors, officials routinely recommit to the reform agenda endorsed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which on 28 September approved its third review of Ghana’s Extended Credit Facility, enabling a much-needed disbursement of about $116.2m.

The Uganda National Oil Company (UNOC) board of directors on 13 August named Proscovia Nabbanja as acting chief executive to replace Josephine Wapakabulo, who has resigned from the post. Nabbanja, a geologist by training, has been UNOC chief operating officer upstream for the last three years. Before that she was a principal geologist in the Petroleum Exploration & Production Department within the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development. Wapakabulo said in her resignation letter she wanted to focus on her family and new opportunities.

Rilwanu Lukman’s candidacy to become energy minister, probably with a much-expanded portfolio, has been accepted by parliament, and will be welcomed by many in the industry. He will be asked to deliver on President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s key policy goals, in a government promising action on all fronts, including over the stalled Niger Delta peace process

Norway-based service company AGR has secured an agreement to deliver field development support for Nigerian explorer Misana Energy Resources. Misana is part of a consortium that was recently awarded a production-sharing contract for blocks 25 D & E in White Nile Province in the south of the country. The other consortium members are Sudapet with 70%, and Nigeria’s Express Petroleum with 15%. AGR’s technical support will cover all disciplines from asset evaluation to full field development and exploration services, the company said.

It was not just his much-vaunted commitment to African development that led Gordon Brown to offer already overstretched UK forces’ support for President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s efforts to stabilise the Niger Delta. Brown signalled that he might provide at least the sort of military training commitment that

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.

Cameroonian state company Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH) has signed a production-sharing contract with Glencore and Afex Global for the gas-prone Matanda block (PH-72). Glencore, who will operate the block adjacent to Bowleven’s Etinde permit area, also has exploration acreage in Equatorial Guinea.

South Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo signed a treaty on the Inga hydropower Project on 29 October during a visit to Kinshasa by President Jacob Zuma. The treaty, signed by South African energy minister Dikobe Ben Martins and his DRC counterpart Bruno Kapandji Kalala, paves the way for a future power purchase agreement (PPA). According to the Kinshasa daily Le Potentiel, the agreement commits South Africa to buying 2,500MW from the 4,800MW Inga III development and gives Pretoria ten years to conclude a formal PPA. Mining companies in Katanga will take 1,300MW, while the other 1,000MW will be supplied elsewhere within Congo.

Egyptian Electricity Holding Company subsidiary East Delta Electricity Production Company is seeking bids to provide distributed control systems for the African Development Bank-sponsored 650MW Suez gas and oil-fired power plant

Energy minister Abdelkader Amara has presented legislators with plans for the long-awaited energy sector regulator. Legislation must pass through a lengthy process in the national assembly, which some analysts fear could stall approval before general elections next year.