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Nigeria and Angola are responsible for the vast majority of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) supply shortfall that is helping to sustain high global oil prices. Above-ground issues including theft and sabotage continue to contribute to a large deficit from the two sub-Saharan oil giants.

Canada’s Reconnaissance Energy Africa (ReconAfrica) has announced that its frontier onshore Kavango Basin acreage could hold more than 1.4 tcf of gas and almost 1bn barrels of oil, according to a review by independent analysts.

Gambia has extended the bid submission deadline for exploration block A1, formerly held by BP, by a further three months.

The DR Congo government has confirmed a deal with consultants to evaluate the potential of onshore and offshore sedimentary basins – including the prospective Albertine Graben, Lake Kivu Graben and Tanganyika Graben areas – as it looks to attract international oil companies (IOCs) ahead of a licensing round due to be launched in late July.

An initial agreement for the $30bn Lindi liquified natural gas project, comprising a major deep offshore development and construction of a large LNG plant, was signed on 11 June. This is not the much-anticipated host government agreement, which project sources told African Energy is expected by year-end

London AIM-listed Chariot has signed a front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract with Schlumberger and Subsea 7 for the Anchois gas project in the offshore Lixus licence area.

London AIM-listed Tower Resources is looking to move forward with drilling at its Njonji oil discovery in Cameroon’s Rio Del Rey Basin, having sealed a funding package worth more than $7m in late June.

A case in the Federal High Court of Nigeria over the Barracuda oil field in Niger Delta Block OML141 has again been adjourned, this time until 16 November.

Petrodel Resources representatives are expected in Dodoma in the coming weeks to meet with state Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and the Ministry of Energy. The company caused some surprise on 25 May when it issued a statement saying it planned to invest $100m across three licence areas, with $80m earmarked for Tanga to meet first well commitments and $20m for Kimbiji and Latham, to bring them into production by 2025.

By replacing Mustafa Sanalla as NOC chairman with Qadhafi-era central bank governor Farhat Bengdara, Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dabaiba has bought himself time and granted a major concession to his chief opponent, Khalifa Haftar. This potentially opens the door to some kind of compromise – but how a critical institution that has maintained operational independence and kept Libyan oil flowing throughout 12 years of conflict survives the change is another question.

Reports that Russian crude is being transhipped off the West African coast and in Egypt signal a fast-changing  oil market as Asian buyers access cheap crude rejected by western buyers. This has implications for African producers, while market sources say there are also signs of Russian crude ending up in products sold in Africa

Norway’s DNO has agreed to pay $117.25m to acquire Mondoil Enterprises, which in turn holds a 33.3% stake in Foxtrot International, which has interests in offshore gas and associated liquids in Côte d'Ivoire. DNO is buying Mondoil from United Arab Emirates-based RAK Petroleum.

Australia’s Woodside Energy on 30 August said that phase one of the 563m bbl Sangomar oil development was 63% complete and first oil is expected in H2 2023. Five of 23 wells have been drilled.

Tullow Oil’s proposed acquisition of Capricorn Energy is facing significant opposition from the latter’s shareholders, including Madison Avenue Partners, Kite Lake Capital Management, Legal & General Investment Management, Newtyn Management and Palliser Capital UK.

Khartoum is prepared to offer new oil exploration and production blocks to Moscow-headquartered Zarubezhneft, Sudanese Oil Production Department director Eltahir Mohammed told Russia’s Interfax news agency on 19 August.