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As Mozambique chalks up ever greater gas reserves, hopes are rising that the southern Rovuma Basin may also contain oil. Total has taken 40% in Petronas’ Areas 3 and 6, after Tullow Oil took 25% in Statoil’s Areas 2 and 5, specifically to look for oil.

Sonatrach is in crisis, with the authorities investigating corruption allegations against chief executive Mohammed Meziane and other senior managers. Fortunately, big decisions have already been made on a number of major gas schemes, writes a Special Correspondent

South Sudan President Salva Kiir has shaken up the board of directors at state oil company Nilepet in a move that reinforces his personal influence over the company. Kiir issued a presidential decree in August making several new appointments to the board, including reinstating Benjamin Bol Mel, a business partner of the president, promoting current managing director Joseph Cleto Deng, Kiir’s former office manager, and appointing General Akol Kur Kuch, currently national security director.

The Ministry of Energy and Minerals of the breakaway Republic of Somaliland announced on 19 November that it had signed a contract with BGP for a multi-client 2D seismic survey in the territory’s offshore waters. The programme will be financed through data purchases by international oil companies operating in Somaliland, the ministry said. Seismic operations will be managed and overseen by the ministry, with support from ministries such as the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Environment. A similar survey was acquired by TGS-Nopec in 2008.

A major challenges to the status of Somalia’s autonomous Somaliland and Puntland territories is the dispute over the Sool and eastern Sanaag regions, which are believed to be oil-rich.

The government has given Elf Petroleum Nigeria Ltd (EPNL) the go-ahead to develop the Usan field on the former OPL 222.

A readjustment of relations between international oil companies (IOCs) and the authorities is evidence of a new, more realistic approach towards upstream development. However, difficulties remain. While a number of international partners have successfully amended or extended their contracts with Alnaft, others have surrendered their interests – continuing a trend of the past several years.The most important two contracts to have been altered in a positive way are those regarding Total and Cepsa’s development of the Timimoun tight gas field in south-west Algeria and BP and Statoil’s production of gas at In Amenas.

In a further step in Dubai-based entrepreneur Abdullah Bin Saeed Al-Thani’s sale of regional assets – signalled by a big divestment in Sudan (AE 135/12) – Austria’s OMV has taken an 80% interest as operator in Tunisia’s offshore Sidi Mansour exploration licence from Thani Emirates Petroleum subsidiary Thani Tunisia Sidi Mansour.

African Petroleum’s sister company International Petroleum has received cabinet approval for four production sharing contracts for the Manga 1, Manga 2, Aborak and Ténéré Ouest blocks in south-east Niger.

Oil and gas explorer Africa New Energies (ANE) is preparing to begin fundraising for a ten-well drilling project onshore Namibia through the issuance of asset-backed crypto-tokens. The company has owned two onshore blocks totalling 22,000km2 in Namibia through its subsidiary Alumni Exploration East Namibia Ltd since December 2012, when the company was founded by South Africans Steven Larkin and Brendon Raw. ANE has been using unconventional exploration techniques based on machine learning to identify drilling sites, in theory at a fraction of the cost of conventional 2D and 3D seismic programmes.

According to the latest lifting programme, published by the South Sudan Ministry of Petroleum in early December, a total of 4.6m barrels will be lifted from Port Sudan in January, equivalent to average production of 148,000 b/d. This compares favourably with the 4.4m barrels programmed for lifting in December (an average production of 142,000 b/d) and 4.2m barrels in November (an average of 140,000 b/d). The volume for lifting matches that of October, when it was also 4.6m barrels, or 148,000 b/d.

US independent Anadarko Petroleum has suspended its operations in Côte d’Ivoire as fighting intensifies between supporters of the country’s two rival presidents, but is accelerating its activities in West Africa as a whole

Sterling Energy has sold its producing US assets for $90m, enabling it to clear its debt. The UK-based company plans to focus on higher impact opportunities in Africa and the Middle East,

There is speculation in Ghana that US independent Hess Corporation may farm out part of its offshore assets as it repositions its operations and spending priorities. The company is focusing increasingly on unconventional shale resources ($2.7bn in 2013 alone) and is under pressure to restructure from activist US investors including billionaire Paul Singer and the Elliott Associates hedge fund.

Sweden’s PA Resources has farmed down a 70% stake in the offshore Didon and Zarat licences in Tunisia to Aberdeen-based EnQuest. PA Resources has been struggling financially for some time, and the sale will reduce the company’s share of future field development costs from an estimated $150m to $45m, enabling it to develop the Zarat field. EnQuest has assets in the UK North Sea and Malaysia, and the farm-in marks its first involvement in the African upstream.