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Sonatrach has secured a revised deal with Norway’s StatoilHydro that underlines the Algerian state company’s determination to build up a much greater international profile by working in tandem with IOC partners, with a 1 March agreement to extend a liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply accord and give it access to a US east coast regasification terminal.

Siemens Energy has won three orders to upgrade existing pump stations for Transnet Pipelines.

Sasol Technology has given KBR two contracts to provide engineering, procurement and construction management (EPCm) services, and basic engineering services for two of its petrochemical projects in Sasolburg.

With presidential and parliamentary elections only weeks away, President Goodluck Jonathan has given his campaign a timely boost by announcing significant progress in government plans to utilise Nigeria’s huge natural gas reserves, with the aim of attracting

The scale of gas finds offshore Mozambique and Tanzania suggests there are reserves to support two LNG plants, if Anadarko and BG can capture Asian markets in the face of competition from Australia, writes Adrian J Browne

Technip has selected Emerson Process Management as the main supplier of control valves for the Algiers refinery rehabilitation and adaptation project. The refinery is being upgraded to increase crude oil processing capacity and ensure gasoline can be produced at specifications similar to those used in Europe. Emerson will supply some 600 of its Fisher control valves and regulators.

While Sonatrach’s dispute with the former Gassi Touil integrated liquefied natural gas project partners Repsol YPF and Gas Natural moves towards international arbitration, the state energy company is moving forward in plans to develop the complex scheme itself, using international engineering and services companies to carry out key parts of the work. In a major step forward, a consortium of Petr

Following the start-up of production in July, Eni has started delivery of gas from the Sankofa field on the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) Block to Ghana National Petroleum Corporation. Gas is flowing from two of the four deep-water subsea wells and gas volumes will increase gradually as the country’s downstream gas infrastructure undergoes further commissioning.Partner Vitol said the project would provide approximately 180mcf/d for at least 15 years, sufficient to supply half of Ghana’s power generation requirements.

Two new committees to spearhead and monitor reform and efforts to unify contracts reveal the president’s focus on achieving stable power supply.

The west of Libya may have access to domestic gasoline production of as little as 6,000 ltrs/d, from the Az-Zawiya oil refinery, but it also has too much fuel oil and kerosene, which it cannot dispose of.

Oando plc has announced an agreement with Helios Investment Partners to acquire 49% of its midstream business subsidiary Oando Gas and Power (OGP) for $115.8m. Helios has already bought into Oando’s downstream business in a joint venture with Vitol. Oando completed the acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ upstream oil and gas business in Nigeria in 2014, leaving it with a much-expanded exploration and production portfolio but also significant debt. At end-June 2016, the group had total short-and long-term borrowings of 279.7bn naira ($888.6m) against 138.2bn naira of total equity.

The financing for Citadel Capital’s ambitious Cairo refinery project would be impossible to assemble in Egypt’s current economic and political climate of a looming balance of payments crisis and President Mohamed Morsi’s growing unpopularity. A key element of the Egyptian Refining Company (ERC) deal for lenders and shareholders was a financial guarantee ensuring that Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) will pay the plant’s builder and operator even if the country’s dire foreign reserves situation persists. ERC chief executive Tom Thomason says there is no risk that his company will join oil companies owed significant arrears by the oil and gas parastatal.

The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) is participating with up to $150m in a $450m trade finance facility arranged by Natixis to finance the import of refined petroleum products. Under the agreement signed on 15 July, IFC, Natixis, Standard Bank and other lenders will help finance Independent Petroleum Group (IPG)’s import of petroleum products into Ethiopia over one year. The Kuwaiti company maintains a strong relationship with the state Ethiopia Petroleum Supplier Enterprise, as one of the main suppliers of petroleum products to the country for the last four years.

The conflict between selling valuable crude on the international market and using it to boost domestic fuel production is particularly acute in Libya, which has the capacity to refine about 19m t/yr of products but needs a further 4m t/yr to meet demand, according to estimates from National Oil Corporation (NOC)

Despite moves to mobilise new finance for the Mohammedia refinery, concern is growing about Société Marocaine d’Industrie de Raffinage (Samir)’s financial health and ability to remain the dominant player in the national products market. This follows the announcement of losses in 2014 and questions about the ability and appetite of the refinery’s ultimate owner, Saudi-Ethiopian magnate Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi, to meet heavy financial costs. Al-Amoudi’s business interests, including the Samir refinery’s Swedish-based owner Corral Petroleum Holdings, which holds 62.27% of the equity, have long been linked to the Saudi ruling family’s Al-Sultan branch.