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Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has awarded direct sale-direct purchase (DSDP) contracts to 15 consortia grouping more than 30 energy companies, oil traders and politically well-connected Nigerian partners. The contracts are effectively a swaps arrangement where NNPC supplies export crude to companies which in exchange supply NNPC with a similar amount in value of gasoline and diesel to be imported into Nigeria. The companies have won access to up to 300,000 b/d of NNPC’s crude exports in exchange for supplying gasoline and diesel to Africa’s largest fuels import market.

At the end of November, prime minister Ali Zeidan warned that the government will need to borrow on the international markets to pay salaries. A blockade of most of Libya’s oil export terminals means that since July, revenues have at most been half of expected levels and production has frequently fallen below one-tenth of total capacity. According to one estimate presented to African Energy, the entire 2013 budget of about $60bn has already been spent, plus a further $20bn which remained unspent from 2012. Several sources have suggested that inroads may have been made into the Central Bank of Libya’s foreign currency reserves, although the official position is that they are untouched.

Production cuts by a majority of Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) producers, working in coordination with non-Opec exporters led by Russia, have helped to raise oil prices from their 2014-16 lows; the strategy seems likely to maintain crude benchmarks at around $50 for some time. While second-guessing the oil price is a hazardous business, African Energy’s soundings of major international oil companies (IOCs) suggest this represents a ‘new normal’ for the industry, as factored into corporations’ base case scenario-planning.

Gabon is using only a fraction of its 6,000MW hydroelectric potential and is planning to raise finance to raise national generation capacity from 374MW to 1,000MW by 2016 and 5,000MW by 2020, according to energy and water resources minister Régis Immongault

Enel Green Power RSA (EGP) announced on 2 July that construction is under way at its 140MW Garob wind farm, located near Copperton in Northern Cape province The €200m ($227m) project is Enel’s fifth wind plant in the country. Enel has stakes in 12 projects, which have been selected through South Africa’s renewable energy independent power producer procurement (REIPPP) programme.Garob will use 46 turbines to generate around 573GWh/yr when the plant becomes operational in H1 2021.

A new 9MW generator has been installed at the Brikama power plant, bringing capacity to 34MW.

The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) has obtained approval from Zambia’s Securities and Exchange Commission to issue kwacha-denominated bonds of up to 2.5bn kwacha ($460m). The IFC can now issue local currency bonds supporting local capital markets and increasing access to local-currency finance for the private sector. 
The bonds will be issued under the IFC Pan-African Domestic Medium-Term Note Programme, launched in May 2012 to facilitate regular bond issuances by the IFC in the region.

Eni has announced the start of production from the Vandumbu field in Block 15/06. Eni said on 10 December that first oil from the Vandumbu field was achieved in late November, three months ahead of schedule. Along with the start-up of a subsea multiphase boosting system in early December, this has boosted oil production from Block 15/06 by 20,000 b/d via the West Hub’s N’Goma floating production, storage and offloading vessel.

Israeli businessman Dan Gertler has sold his stakes in two cobalt and copper mines to Glencore in a $960m deal. Glencore will buy Gertler’s 31% stake in Mutanda Mining and his 10% stake in Katanga Mining, both of which are held through his Fleurette Properties. Glencore will pay $534m in cash to Fleurette, once outstanding debt is deducted, giving it 100% of Mutanda and 86% of Katanga.

The Electricity Control Board (ECB) has granted NamPower a 9.53% electricity tariff increase for 2015-16 after reviewing an application for a 13.2% bulk tariff hike. Namibia’s power tariffs have been cost-reflective since 2011-12, and NamPower had sought the increase to meet its rising service delivery costs. Namibia remains a net importer of electricity, at times importing up to 70% of its needs from the region depending on water levels at the Ruacana Power Station. Several new generation projects are planned under the National Integrated Resource Plan, but most of them will start producing power only after 2016 due to construction lead times.

Connecticut-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries subsidiary PW Power Systems has announced a contract with Société Algérienne de Production de l’Electricité to supply 20 25MW FT8 Mobilepac gas turbine generators to four locations in Algeria; two near Algiers and one each in central and eastern areas of the country. The agreement includes fuel and demineralised water systems, mobile self-cleaning inlet air systems, black start generators and strategic spare components. Each unit is a self-contained gas turbine powered by an FT8 engine produced by Pratt & Whitney using natural gas or liquid fuel.

Libya has been slow to start developing renewable energy projects.

GdF Suez plans LNG plant; KBR wins Lobito refinery FEED; Chevron sells downstream ops to Total; Foster Wheeler to oversee Zwara refinery

BP has announced the signing of amendments for the Temsah, Ras El Barr and Nile Delta Offshore concessions to permit development of the Nooros field, discovered in July 2015. BP said Nooros, in the Nile Delta Offshore concession, this month achieved record production of 700mcf/d and is set to reach 880mcf/d by early 2017. BP will also drill additional wells in the Ras El Barr and Temsah areas that are expected to bring significant gas to the energy-hungry Egyptian domestic market.

Paris-based Eranove signed a 30-year concession agreement on 18 June to finance, build and operate a 42MW hydropower plant on the Niger River. The Kenié project at Buguinéda, 35km east of Bamako, will be operated by a new Eranove subsidiary, Kenié Energie Renouvelable, owned 80% by Eranove and 20% by IFC InfraVentures. Eranove said construction would begin in 2016, and the plant would be commissioned in 2020. The project represents Eranove’s first foray into Mali, but the company is active elsewhere in West Africa.