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The US International Development Finance Corporation has agreed to provide $430m in insurance for Noble Energy’s project to restore the 90km East Mediterranean Gas (EMG) pipeline to transport gas from fields offshore Israel. The agreement was signed on 23 November at the Investment for Africa Forum in Cairo after Noble Energy and its partners achieved financial close for the project.

Professor Oluwafeyisola Sylvester Adegoke – the chairman is a former geology lecturer at Ife University who lives in retirement in the Ogudu government reserved area of Lagos.

An ad hoc committee at National Oil Corporation has reached agreement in principle on the price at which gas will be sold to end users within the country.

The government has shortlisted six bidders to build an oil refinery on the shores of Lake Albert. According to the Ministry for Energy and Mineral Development, following a request for qualification launched in early October, the government received responses from 75 interested parties. Eight companies or consortia submitted detailed qualification statements, and of the six to be shortlisted, the winner will be selected in H1 2014. Prequalified bidders include a Russian consortium led by RT – Global Resources, a subsidiary of high-technology product producer and exporter Rostec, along with financial services company VTB Capital, which is keen to expand in Africa, and oil company Tatneft. Rostec, which signed a memorandum of understanding on wider energy co-operation with the ministry in November, said in a statement that the refinery project included a 205km products pipeline to Kampala.

REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Brazilians push for biofuels projects; EGYPT: USTDA grant for petrochems; MOROCCO: Samir financing

Bechtel Overseas Corporation has awarded a contract to the PLNG consortium led by Saipem’s Petromar subsidiary for the construction of containment systems for the planned 5.2m t/yr Angola LNG plant at Soyo (AE 140/20).

Energy minister Noureddine Bouterfa has committed to accelerating downstream developments over the next year, ordering studies to develop petrochemicals projects and reviving plans to build four new oil refineries – at Tiaret, Hassi Messaoud, Biskra and Arzew – “to raise fuel production by some 20m tonnes”, he said in late December. This would revive projects promoted a decade ago, but largely stalled since. State energy giant Sonatrach suggested progress was now possible, ending 2016 by awarding engineering studies contracts for the Skikda refinery upgrade, Algiers refinery refurbishment and for the eventual construction of a methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) plant at Arzew.

The attack on the BP/Statoil/Sonatrach association’s gas production facility was carried out by Al-Mouakioune Bi Dam (Those who Sign in Blood), led by Sahel-based jihadist Abdelhakim Al-Nigeri, whose commander (not present) was the veteran Algerian-born Islamist guerrilla leader, kidnapper and trafficker Mokhtar Belmokhtar.

Engen has opened a new fuel supply terminal at Beira to increase supply capacity to Southern Africa. The 24,000m³ terminal will supply petrol, diesel and lubricants to the main hubs in Mozambique, and to other countries in Southern Africa where Engen operates. An official launch was held on 4 September. “We’ve tested railway capabilities from Beira to Bulawayo in Zimbabwe and to Francistown in Botswana, which was very successful. In essence, this means that we can take some pressure off of our Durban refinery and supply Botswana and Zimbabwe directly from our new depot,” said Engen International Business Division general manager Drikus Kotze.

Few details have emerged of the arbitration taking place in Geneva between Sonatrach and its former Gassi Touil integrated natural gas project partners Repsol YPF and Gas Natural, following the state company’s decision to terminate its contract with the Spanish firms last year (AE 144/21).

Following the success of the Camarao exploration well, Anadarko now believes the Windjammer, Barquentine, Lagosta and Camarao complex holds at least 10tcf of recoverable gas and has expanded its base case development plan to a minimum of two 5m t/yr liquefaction trains (AE 215/1).

Minister of state for petroleum resources Ibe Kachikwu has signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with Chinese companies for over $80bn of new investment in the oil and gas industry over five years. The investments, signed during a three-day Nigerian investment roadshow in China, are expected to cover pipelines, refineries, gas and power, facility refurbishments and upstream financing.The deal underlines the extent of China’s interest in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, but it is unclear how the projects will be financed.

President Mahamadou Issoufou formally launched the Niger-Benin export pipeline project on 17 September at a ceremony at Koulélé, in the Agadem region. The launch of the surface works followed the signing on 15 September of a transportation convention between the government and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC). The transportation convention sets out the contractual terms between CNPC and the Republic of Niger under which the pipeline will be built and operated.

Exports of gas to Italy via the Greenstream pipeline resumed on 10 March after an eight-day shutdown precipitated by armed clashes between rival militias from Zintan and Zuwara. This was the most serious in a number of rivalries between officially appointed security personnel and other local groups that have led to expensive shut-ins at oil and gas installations and delayed the restart of exploration programmes. Even after the National Army took control of the site, it still took some days for gas flows to restart.

African leaders, backed by key donors, earlier this year approved another initiative to increase electricity generation and access across the continent; and multilateral and government officials have since been working to put flesh on the bones of the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA). Jointly developed by the African Union (AU), New Partnership for Africa’s Development (Nepad) and African Development Bank to map out an energy infrastructure development programme in the period to 2040, PIDA promises much – and its ambitious goals are to be welcomed. “The programme aims for achieving energy accessibility of all the African population of not less than 60% by 2040. This requires annual growth of the energy sector by 6.2% and an annual investment of $40.5bn,” a recent PIDA document says.