Search results

There is speculation in Ghana that US independent Hess Corporation may farm out part of its offshore assets as it repositions its operations and spending priorities. The company is focusing increasingly on unconventional shale resources ($2.7bn in 2013 alone) and is under pressure to restructure from activist US investors including billionaire Paul Singer and the Elliott Associates hedge fund.

As part of its efforts to improve the availability, reliability, efficacy and quality of electricity services in Conakry, Electricité de Guinée (EDG) has issued a tender for the supply of 16,000 single-phase prepaid meters and 4,000 three-phase prepaid meters with associated cables and connection materials.

French President François Hollande made a first visit to South Africa in mid-October, announcing a €4bn ($5.5bn) rail contract to be undertaken by Alstom with the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa and highlighting French investment in South Africa’s power sector.The president referred to “the agreement signed between GDF Suez and South Africa for thermal power stations to the tune of €1.6bn”, creating hopes of a new injection of capital to give Eskom some breathing space. But a GDF Suez spokesman said no new deals had been signed with the South African government. While “we do work quite closely with the French government, Hollande was adding up different projects (which are already under development),” he said.

Parliamentary approval for a deal to install up to 400MW at Tema opens the way for a power purchase agreement to be signed by the Early Power Ltd consortium of Endeavor Energy, the local Sage Petroleum and GE. Local advocacy groups have raised concerns about pricing, but the Bridge Power project is the only new scheme currently working its way through the system, where other independent power projects have been stalled by World Bank and other donors’ concerns over financing.

The World Bank board has approved a $65m loan for the Energy Sector Development Project, and Rio Tinto Alcan has signed an agreement with the state Electricity Development Corporation (EDC) to provide technical assistance in the development of the Lom Pangar dam. According to the World Bank, “the Lom Pangar Hydropower Project (LPHP) is the anchor project to realise Cameroon’s significant hydro power potential. Cameroon’s three existing water reservoirs do not have sufficient storage capacity (total of 7.5km3) to maintain reliable power supply during the dry season.

The Export-Import Bank of the United States has doubled the size of its Nigerian bank facility to $1bn. Ex-Im Bank said the move met with a growing demand from Nigerian banks for medium- and longer-term financing.

Sweden’s PA Resources has farmed down a 70% stake in the offshore Didon and Zarat licences in Tunisia to Aberdeen-based EnQuest. PA Resources has been struggling financially for some time, and the sale will reduce the company’s share of future field development costs from an estimated $150m to $45m, enabling it to develop the Zarat field. EnQuest has assets in the UK North Sea and Malaysia, and the farm-in marks its first involvement in the African upstream.

There is a curious disconnection between Egypt’s dire political and financial straits and the relatively upbeat assessments from the international oil companies (IOCs) developing assets there. In spite of the continued closure of Eni and Union Fenosa’s Damietta LNG export terminal and the substantial debt owed by Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to domestic gas producers, long-term prospects still appear to justify investments.

Following riots over power shortages, the government has signed a $10m contract with Aggreko for 50MW of short-term thermal power for Conakry. Electricité de Guinée director-general Nava Touré said the six-month contract was the only way to calm rising social tensions in the capital. In early August, demonstrators set up roadblocks, burned tyres and halted traffic to protest at the government’s failure to meet its promises to improve electricity supply. Security forces intervened to restore order and at least ten people were injured.

A cabinet meeting on 6 June approved a production-sharing contract for Edinburgh-based Savannah Petroleum for blocks R1 and R2. A government statement said the blocks represented 50% of the Agadem Block, granted to China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) in 2007, suggesting the new blocks are relinquished acreage. Initial oil production from Agadem is supplying a refinery near Zinder and CNPC has plans to build an extension to the Chad-Cameroon pipeline to enable exports.

Find ways to store the electricity generated from solar, wind and other renewables, and these technologies may cease to be ‘intermittent’ sources of power – a game-changer that is expected to transform Africa’s electricity supply industry in the next decade or two. “Storage will make a lot of difference to the shape of the grid,” observed Gravitricity managing director and co-founder Charlie Blair, predicting that networks will emerge “without big spines and instead more of a nodal system”.

Special supplementary conditions have been set for the Ahnet zone, a gas project operated by Sonatrach. This prize territory seems to be operating almost as a test case. According to Sonatrach head Mohammed Meziane, “we are convinced that numerous possibilities exist through which Sonatrach can benefit from access to international assets

The National Energy Regulator of South Africa (Nersa) has approved a regulatory clearing account (RCA) balance of R7.82bn ($734m) following an application by national utility Eskom. The ruling is likely to result in a tariff increase of 2-5% in 2015-16 on top of the 8% already approved. The RCA is a mechanism which allows Eskom to recoup unforeseen losses accrued during previous multi-year price determination (MYPD) periods due to discrepancies between tariff forecasts and the actual developments over the period.

South Africa-based Engen Petroleum has completed the purchase of Total’s downstream operations in Guinea Bissau, Rwanda and Burundi. The agreement, signed on 31 July in Paris and effective from 19 November, sees Engen take over Total’s shareholding in Total Rwanda and in Total Burundi.

The start-up of the Kaléta dam in mid 2015 improved power supply for several months but low water levels mean that only one of the dam’s three turbines is able to operate. With insufficient thermal capacity to fill the gap, power cuts have again become commonplace in outlying districts of Conakry. An Electricité de Guinée (EDG) official told African Energy almost all the country’s available capacity at present is being produced by thermal plants in Conakry.