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Egypt is entering a new phase of gas production which could see it achieving self-sufficiency in approximately 12 months and even resuming exports – a prospect that some earlier forecasts suggested might only be achievable in 2021. The driver behind this change in fortunes is a massive investment drive by international oil companies (IOCs) incentivised by more attractive commercial terms, the high prospectivity of offshore Nile Delta territories, and the Ministry of Petroleum’s willingness to fast-track the development of major discoveries.

London-listed Sound Energy expects to reach a final investment decision (FID) for the second phase of its Tendrara concession by year-end, as it continues its search for a farm-in partner to join further exploration and appraisal work. Production from phase I is also expected to start in early 2024, writes Marc Howard.

With recent visitors headlined by Chevron and Eni, and a senior Russian oil apparatchik talking up pipelines and other business in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo is looking to turn an upturn in interest into financial commitments, as its maturing fields and untapped frontiers clamour for new investment to reverse a declining production profile.

London AIM-quoted Eco Atlantic said on 20 December it had won regulatory approval from the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy and Petroleum Agency of South Africa for its wholly-owned subsidiary Azinam to acquire another 6.25% in offshore Block 3B/4B from the Lunn Family Trust.

President for four-plus decades, Teodoro Obiang is continuing in office for another term – with the prospect of his controversial son Teodorin taking over – but if that represents ‘stability’ there are still leaves plenty of challenges in the hydrocarbons in-tray, with oil production in decline and even historic partners having second thoughts, writes James Gavin.

Algeria’s upstream sector received a boost in early November, when Eni announced the start-up of the HDLE/HDLS oil field, in the Berkine North Basin’s Zemlet El Arbi concession – only six months after its discovery in March.

The sale of London AIM-listed Scirocco Energy’s 25% interest in the Ruvuma production-sharing agreement (PSA) to Ara Petroleum Tanzania (APT) is set to go ahead after the country’s Fair Competition Commission (FCC) approved the transaction.

Australia’s Woodside Energy has confirmed the floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel destined for its 563m bbl offshore Sangomar oilfield development is complete, with first production expected in H2 2023.

The question of how and whether financial institutions should support major energy projects that have fossil fuel components is prompting regulators and insurers to weigh up potential new rules, including re-examining the definition of terms like “ESG” (environmental, social and governance). 

Norway’s PGS (formerly Petroleum Geo-Services) has said  that it has won a 3D exploration contract in Namibia for “a major energy company”. PGS did not respond to African Energy’s request for comment on the client.

London-listed independent Wildcat Petroleum has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Sudan’s Ministry of Oil and Gas to increase output by 100,000 b/d through the development of blocks 1, 3, 4 and 5 near the border with South Sudan.

Private equity fund Carlyle Group is looking to exit its Gabon-focused oil and gas company Assala Energy, five years after it picked up ther asset from Shell for $628m.

The Indian government is seeking a long-term crude oil supply deal from Namibia. Comments attributed to a senior government official, and reported in the Indian press, said the world’s third-largest oil importer was looking for a “long-term contract” that would protect it from volatile global energy markets.

The first cargo from Eni’s Coral Sul floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) plant is expected to be shipped in early November and will be sent to European markets.

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”.