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Elected amid economic crisis, new French President François Hollande has not been a charismatic popstar candidate, but his down-to-earth style and softly, softly approach could still bring reform

Tower Resources has named Sterling Energy co-founder Graeme Thomson as its new chief executive. Tower pulled out of Ugandan block EA5 after three dry wells but still has three blocks in Namibia, as well as interests in the disputed Western Sahara

Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) has secured a $900m bail-out from BNP Paribas and Standard Chartered to help clear its continuing debt backlog and buy new crude supplies

Under pressure to raise finance to meet its Kenyan commitments, Lion Petroleum has agreed to merge with Canadian company Taipan Resources. Taipan has agreed to provide Lion with bank guarantees to fund its work programme on blocks 1 and 2B, and Lion shareholders will receive Taipan shares

Houston-based CAMAC Energy has announced the signing of petroleum exploration, development and production licences for offshore exploration blocks A2 and A5, which were awarded in January

Algeria plans to spend $10bn on building five new oil refineries to supplement output from existing plants

The slow pace of improvement to power infrastructure is showing signs of picking up following the sacking of energy and water minister Emmanuela Vieira Lopes in December; he was replaced by João Baptista Borges for failing to deliver promised improvements to the sector

North African administrations are vulnerable to popular discontent over fuel shortages, but the revival of ambitious plans for refinery construction and upgrades is unlikely to be a panacea

Following the dry Tapir South well on Northern Block 1811A, Chariot Oil and Gas has secured a rig for the next well in its drilling programme, while Brazil’s HRT Participações em Petróleo has signed a letter of award to lease the semi-submersible Transocean Marianas for a drilling campaign due to start in late 2012 or early 2013

Lower prices and more generous development packages were evident in South Africa’s second renewable IPP bid round, and developers are eyeing more projects in REIPPP3 and other government bid rounds

Reports that Qatar plans to build a 120,000 b/d refinery at La Skhira on Tunisia’s Gulf of Gabes coast, to refine Libyan and other crude, revives a project that was first discussed in the 1990s as Tunis sought to add to domestic capacity beyond its ageing 35,000 b/d Bizerte refinery and develop its potential as an export hub

There is optimism about Puntland’s oil prospects following news that operator Horn Petroleum plans to test a 12-20 metre pay zone in the Shabeel-1 well on the Dharoor Valley Block, and has moved the rig to drill at Shabeel North

PetroSA has concluded a joint study agreement (JSA) with China’s Sinopec, which could give new impetus to its plan for a refinery in the Eastern Cape

Cooper Energy Tunisia Bargou has given AGR a well-management contract for planning, execution and post-drilling activities for the planned Hammamet West-3 well on the Bargou permit in the Gulf of Hammamet in Q4 this year

President Goodluck Jonathan is coming under pressure to take decisive action after a parliamentary report revealed the extent of corruption surrounding fuel subsidy payments