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Total on 15 March announced the start of production from the 100,000 b/d Moho Nord deep offshore project, 75km from Pointe-Noire. The development, launched in 2013, comprises 34 wells tied back to a new tension leg platform, the first for Total in Africa, and to the new Likouf floating production unit. The oil is processed on Likouf and exported by pipeline to Total’s Djeno onshore terminal. Total operates the project with a 53.5% interest.

Kenya’s onshore promise has prompted Tullow Oil to accelerate its drilling programme, and results could prove decisive in settling long-standing disputes over development plans for neighbouring Uganda, but international boundary disputes between Kenya and Ethiopia could pose a risk down the line, writes Adrian J Browne

With a long-running arbitration case over exploration Block A nearing its end in Washington, the government is gearing up to relicense the acreage, CAR’s energy minister told François Misser in Bangui

Are Algeria's ambitious energy sector plans feasibile?

Somalia launched an offshore licensing round on 7 February, offering 15 blocks in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Galmudug, Hirshabelle, South West and Jubaland states. Its promoters hope that similar geological structures to those harbouring gas offshore Mozambique, Tanzania and Kenya are oil-bearing offshore Somalia. The event, which was live-streamed by Somali TV, aimed to underline to Somalis back home and in the diaspora the government’s commitment to transparency in exploring its oil and gas potential.

The Algerian authorities have continued to sign new deals in the upstream and downstream sectors while advancing their more controversial agenda of exploiting shale resources despite public opposition. Preparations are building for a policy announcement in December which could open the way to further developments next year. On 7 October, Sonatrach, Total and Repsol completed their agreements to jointly develop the Erg Issouane gas field and market the gas. The field is located on the TFT Sud permit south of the partners’ existing Tin Fouyé Tabenkort (TFT) field.

As the pace of exploration speeds up offshore Morocco, Kosmos has begun drilling the FA-1 well on the Foum Assaka Block, while Cairn Energy has plugged and abandoned the JM-1 well on the Cap Juby prospect on the Juby Maritime licence. Kosmos’ well, which spudded on 16 March, will test the Eagle prospect, which the company estimates to contain 360m boe of resources in its primary deep-water Lower Cretaceous reservoir objective. It is expected to take three months to drill.

Victoria Oil & Gas (VOG) plans to start drilling on the Logbaba gas and condensate field, following completion of its acquisition of Bramlin in November 2008 (AE 149/15).

National Petroleum Authority (NPA) chief executive Alexander Mould has been named as the new head of Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), the energy ministry said. Mould replaces Nana Boakye Asafu-Adjaye, who had been GNPC chief executive since 2009. Before his appointment to the NPA, Mould had been executive director and co-head of wholesale banking at Standard Chartered Bank in Ghana

SDX Energy has announced a gas discovery with the KSR-14 development well on the Sebou permit in Morocco, and an oil discovery with the Rabul-2 well in the West Gharib concession in Egypt. The Rabul-2 well encountered 31 metres of net heavy oil pay across the Yusr and Bakr sand formations, with an average porosity of 20%. The well will be completed as a producer in the Bakr and connected to the central processing facilities at Meseda.

Ministers from Uganda and Tanzania have met for talks aimed at advancing the East African crude oil pipeline project, which has made little progress since its formal launch in August 2017.The 25 January meeting agreed that a host government agreement for the project should be signed by the end of June detailing the rights and obligations of the parties – the two governments and the upstream partners Total, CNOOC and Tullow Oil.

Having suddenly declared force majeure in Guinea, nearly six months after the US Department of Justice launched a corruption probe into its partner Hyperdynamics, Tullow is playing up its transparency credentials. Its annual report published on 24 March includes project-by-project reporting of payments, making it the first oil company to disclose such detail in every country in which it operates. The significance of this is huge. The American Petroleum Institute (API) in September 2012 sued the US Securities and Exchange Commission in an attempt to avoid disclosing project-level payments, and API members are lobbying against tougher reporting standards in the EU and elsewhere.

Afren has named former Roc Oil chief executive Alan Linn as its new chief executive. Linn takes over from senior independent director Toby Hayward, who has been acting as interim chief executive. Roc was taken over last year by Fosun International subsidiary Transcendent Resources. On 30 April, Afren announced a pre-tax loss of $1.955bn for 2014, compared to a $140m profit in 2013, and the company warned on 11 May that it would miss the interest payment on its 2019 bonds as talks continue on a restructuring agreement with lenders.

Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia’s government is expected to revise the hydrocarbons law, which was passed in 2005 (Law 05-07) as a liberal document drawn up by then energy minister Chakib Khelil, but was then revised to take on a much more nationalist tone. Another revision, in 2013, disappointed international oil companies (IOCs) looking for more reasons to invest in Algeria, where IOC participation is restricted to 49% of a project’s equity and other terms are seen to strongly favour the government.

Niger Delta Exploration & Production (NDEP) plans to raise $450m through a share offer, CEO Layi Fatona told the company’s annual general meeting in Lagos on 19 September. The first tranche of $200m is expected to be raised by year-end from either local or international markets and will fund the acquisition and development of oil fields in Nigeria. There is no date set on when the remaining $250m will be sought, but it could be used to fund the company’s possible entrance into South Sudan and Zambia, he said. FBN Capital and Chapel Hill Denham have been appointed as financial advisors.