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Glencore received the ‘highest ever fines and costs ordered in a British corporate criminal conviction’, the UK’s Serious Fraud Office said after a London court found the resources giant guilty of graft – in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Nigeria – and of ‘failures to prevent bribery’ in Equatorial Guinea and South Sudan in 2011-14. Chastened once more after its practises were reported in eye-watering legal detail, Glencore has embarked on “an extensive programme of corporate reform”.

US supermajor Chevron has confirmed its purchase of an 80% working interest in a highly prospective block offshore Namibia, in a move that affirms the Orange Basin’s status as one of the world’s most exciting gas frontiers – underlined by TotalEnergies’ latest view that its nearby Venus well points to a possibly giant discovery.

Algeria's 4.5bcm/yr Touat gas processing plant is expected to resume production “shortly”, in Q3 2022, having been shut-in due to mechanical problems since last November. The unit “remained shut-in throughout the second quarter as repairs and clean-up operations continued”, operator Neptune Energy said in its 11 August Q2 22 results presentation.

Former Gabon Oil Company (GOC) director-general Christian Patrichi Tanasa Mbadinga, appeared before the Cour Criminelle Spéciale (CCS) in Libreville on 21 March, charged with misappropriating FCFA85bn ($143m) from the state oil company.

The global hydrocarbons industry is entering a critical period, as oil majors press on with attempts to reinvent their businesses to meet ambitious emissions reduction targets and accommodate shifting investor expectations. That is likely to lead to further retrenchment from key African markets as the biggest international players reassess their priorities, which will favour gas over crude projects. But not everyone is heading for the exit, writes James Gavin.

TotalEnergies’ move to increase its interest in the Waha oil concessions, plus a separate agreement with General Electric Company of Libya (Gecol) to build 500MW of solar power, shows how the politically nimble oil major intends to trace a line between its fossil-fuelled past and the net zero future.

The capacity of its complex clan dynamics and political divisions to derail efforts to improve governance and contain Al-Shabaab is again apparent as the murderous dispute between President Farmaajo and Prime Minister Roble threatens to derail Somalia’s faltering progress. Murky politics leave even the most attractive oil and other assets stranded for want of investors able to mitigate Somalian risk, writes John Hamilton.

The Rwandan deployment has changed the course of the Mozambique government’s battle against Islamist insurgents. This opens the way for a crucial resumption of big gas projects in Cabo Delgado, but questions remain about the Rwandan deployment’s funding, President Kagame’s strategic goals and whether the insurgency is really beaten, writes Marc Howard

Malabo has big ambitions to become a regional gas hub, but from an oil production perspective Equatorial Guinea is a small player. Despite activity involving Noble/Kosmos and Trident, ExxonMobil wants to get out In oil terms, Equatorial Guinea is an Opec minnow whose already small crude production has edged lower in recent years, with output in 2019 of 117,000 b/d slipping to 112,000 b/d last year – and averaging just 107,000 b/d in Q1 2021, amid Opec quota restrictions that kept barrels in the ground.

The appointment of a new unified government opens the way to significant reform of Libya’s energy sector. While power supply will be a key priority, the return of sovereign authority to the oil sector could finally enable long-awaited regulatory reforms, provided the new oil minister can work with NOC, writes John Hamilton.

Australian independent joint venture company Afro Energy is preparing to move ahead with a three-well onshore drilling campaign, injecting further momentum into South African upstream activity as the landmark Upstream Petroleum Resources Development Bill, published in June, awaits parliamentary approval.

Kosmos Energy has dropped plans to sell down part of its stake in the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project following the adoption of plans for a scaled-down second phase. The smaller phase II aims to make more use of existing infrastructure, making it cheaper and more profitable, writes Thalia Griffiths.

As Sudan looks to improve ties with the West following its removal from the US State Sponsors of Terrorism list, China’s longstanding close ties with Khartoum are under pressure over unpaid debt owed to CNPC. In the context of China’s wider recalibration of its resource relationship with Africa, Sudan’s role is steadily diminishing, writes James Gavin.

The Ministry of Military Production (MMP) has further extended its oil and gas sector interests with a new deal that shows how the military’s business arms intend to cooperate with international investors. A cooperation protocol was agreed in late October between Italian-Egyptian wellhead production company Tharwa Breda Petroleum Service Company (TBPSCo) and the National Authority for Military Production (NAMP). TBPSCo is 50% owned by Italy’s Breda Energia, with the other half of its equity held by a group of Egyptian state-owned institutions.

Better-than-expected results from the Luiperd well mean Total and its partners have dropped plans for further drilling and will move straight to development. Domestic gas will come as a shot in the arm for the South African economy but development will not be straightforward, writes Thalia Griffiths.