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Since the anti-Qadhafi rebellion sparked off in mid-February, it has been hard to tell what oil is being exported from Libya and under what circumstances. The most recent estimate from the International Energy Agency is that exports have halted, writes John Hamilton. About two-thirds of Libyan oil is produced by joint ventures between National Oil Corporation (NOC) and international partners. Some of the oil being loaded from ports

Oilmoz Holding, owned by former foreign minister and current executive director of the Joaquim Chissano Foundation, Leonardo Simão, plans to start construction next year on a 350,000 b/d oil refinery (AE 136/22). The refinery is to be built at Matutuine in the south of Mozambique, at an estimated cost of $8.4bn.

With the threat of another pipeline shutdown averted, South Sudan’s oil production is expected to increase from about 180,000 b/d to 200,000 b/d in the coming weeks, and to at least 250,000 b/d by year-end, according to oil industry sources in Juba. During a one-day summit in Khartoum on 3 September with South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, Sudanese leader Omar Hassan Al-Bashir agreed to reverse his decision, announced on 9 June, to stop receiving, processing and transporting crude from South Sudan within 60 days. Under pressure from oil companies and foreign governments, Bashir had already twice delayed the anticipated shutdown, originally scheduled for 7 August, to 22 August and then to 6 September.

Engen has bought a 15% ownership stake in the Juhi jet fuel storage facility at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport near the capital Port Louis. Engen Petroleum Mauritius managing director Joan Njoroge said jet fuel storage facilities were usually run in consortia, to minimise the number of depots and therefore airport security risks. “Co-ownership puts Engen on a competitive footing with other oil companies,” she said. “We have already won several tenders since we began activities in April.”

Sonatrach president and chief executive Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour has accelerated the national refinery development programme with the issue of an engineering, procurement and construction tender to build a new refinery in Hassi Messaoud. In a more surprising move, Sonatrach has also been linked to the purchase of a refinery in Italy as it rethinks its long-term strategy.The Hassi Messaoud tender is intended to underpin government plans to make Algeria more self-sufficient at a time when the cost of fuel and other imports has put heavy pressure on the balance of payments.

Joint Task Force (JTF) officers charged with addressing oil theft, illegal refining and pipeline vandalism on 5 December saw smoke rising from forest in Kogi State’s Okene Local Government Area; it was the 52nd makeshift refinery the JTF claimed to have identified and destroyed during a late November/early December crackdown.

The government signed a partnership agreement on 4 October creating a consortium headed by France’s Total to build a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal. “The arrival of LNG in Côte d’Ivoire opens a new era in the production of electricity,” energy minister Adama Toungara said at a signing ceremony in the commercial capital Abidjan. The project aims to develop, build and operate a floating storage and regasification unit with initial capacity of 100mcf that would gradually be brought up to 500mcf, according to an energy ministry statement. The ministry estimated the cost at $200m.

Guernsey-registered Bramlin Ltd has announced that its Rodeo Development subsidiary, which operates the Logbaba gas field near Douala, has executed three agreements to sell gas to industrial customers in the Douala area.

EGYPT: IFC invests in Egyptian Refining Company; EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Refinery progress; KENYA: Enoc enters downstream; MAURITIUS: Products supply deal renewed; NIGERIA: Lagos seals refinery deal

Saipem contract for Hassi Messaoud LPG; LPG supply to double; KBR wins petrochems pre-FEED contract

The consequences of the earthquake and tsunami which triggered a nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, leading to 12GW of power to be shut down in eastern Japan

As the new government of populist President Michael Sata promises to tackle high fuel prices and corruption, the Zambia Public Procurement Agency (ZPPA) has launched a tender to supply the Indeni refinery, with the energy ministry promising a break from past malpractice.

Sasol Petroleum International is expanding gas production from Mozambique, where the central processing facility produces 300mcf/d from the Pande and Temane fields, and a $500m expansion is under way

Trinity Energy plans a 40,000-b/d refinery in the oil hub of Paloich in the Upper Nile region. The project will cost $250m-$300m and produce 2m t/yr of petroleum products, Trinity co-founder and director Richard Raja told African Energy. South Sudan currently has no refinery, although several projects have come and gone since independence. Speaking to African Energy at the Africa Oil & Power conference in London on 17 June, Raja said financing was close to completion.

The often murky world of products trading has sucked in the former freedom fighters of Namibia’s ruling party, with a power struggle between rival factions for control of Namcor, writes Our Windhoek Correspondent