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State energy giant Sonatrach said everything was under control at the giant El Merk oil field after a fire in the central processing facility (CPF) on 21 October. The next day, Sonatrach chief Toufik Hakkar visited the unit operated by the Groupement Berkine joint venture with Occidental Petroleum Corporation, reassuring markets that output at the field, which produces 98,000 b/d of crude and 29,000 b/d of condensates, would soon return.

EU concern over drilling plan The European Commission has expressed concern about the potential impact of oil exploration on the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, where Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica) plans to drill three wells starting in late December.

CGG has signed an agreement with Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo and the Ministry of Hydrocarbons to acquire the industry’s first-ever multi-client airborne gravity and magnetic survey of the onshore Cuvette Basin. The government hopes to attract new investment following the Ngoki discovery last year.

Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH) has given New Age (African Global Energy) Ltd formal approval to apply for a new exploitation agreement for the Etinde licence. This would replace the existing Etinde exploitation agreement (EEA) which came into force by presidential decree in January 2015 and had been due to expire. Partner Bowleven said the new agreement, reached following talks with SNH, “would be for the production of hydrocarbons including the delivery of gas to thermal power plants or any other projects confirmed by the state”.

Following several block awards announced in early January, minister of petroleum and mineral resources Tarek El-Molla has signed a concession agreement with Royal Dutch Shell, Mubadala Petroleum and Tharwa Petroleum for Red Sea Block 4. The 3,084km2 block in the northern Red Sea owned by the South Valley Egyptian Petroleum Holding Company (Ganope) was offered in a licensing round in 2019.

London-listed Energean announced on 21 January that it had taken a final investment decision on the North El Amriya and North Idku (NEA/NI) concession subsea tieback project offshore Egypt. The NEA concession contains two discovered and appraised gas fields, Yazzi and Python, while the NI concession contains four discovered gas fields, one of which is ready for development. NEA/NI is due to deliver first gas in H2 2022 from 49m boe of 2P reserves, 87% of which is gas. Peak production is expected to be approximately 90mcf/d, plus 1,000 b/d of condensates.

Equinor has written down the book value of its Tanzania LNG project by $982m, amid questions over future global LNG demand and continued concerns about Tanzania’s business environment. Equinor’s partner ExxonMobil has been seeking a buyer for its stake for some time. Equinor said that, while progress had been made in recent years on the commercial framework, overall project economics had not yet improved sufficiently to justify keeping it on the balance sheet at its previous value. 

A cabinet meeting on 12 February approved a production sharing contract signed with Niger Oil Company (NOC) for blocks R5, R6 and R7. A cabinet statement said NOC was owned by Azimuth, Amko, state oil company Société Nigérienne de Pétrole and local private investors.

Tema LNG is up and running with the first cargo scheduled for end-May, sparking a renewed debate over Ghana’s gas supply options, writes Dan Marks.

Established majors are departing in a shake-up of the oil and gas sector. Optimists say this leaves the path open to independents that are showing more passion for Tunisia’s maturing upstream, writes James Gavin.

State utility Sonelgaz’s construction programme has been beleaguered by severe problems related to implementation, alongside strategic tensions surrounding its gas-fired programme and lack of progress on renewables procurement in Algeria.

SDX has started the first phase of its 2021 drilling campaign, which will comprise up to five wells over the year. The first phase will consist of three appraisal/development wells, which will target an estimated total of 1.3 bcf of P90/1.8 bcf of P50 gross unrisked prospective recoverable resources in its Gharb Basin acreage.

Wentworth Resources posted a record Q1 2021 performance with production of 84.74mcf/d gross, compared with an average of 63.60mcf/d in Q1 2020.

London AIM-listed SDX Energy will push ahead with a two-well South Disouq drilling campaign, subject to ministerial and parliamentary approval for a two-year concession extension. Announcing Q1 results on 20 May, SDX said it planned to drill on the Hanut prospect in Q3 with what chief executive Mark Reid called “the transformational Hanut-1X exploration well”. 

Seven Energy deal gave it a 40% interest in the Uquo field and 51% in the Stubb Creek field – both large, producing, low-cost onshore oil and gas fields – and 80% in the Accugas midstream business. Chief executive Andrew Knott said “our financial results show just how transformational the acquisition has been.”