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Talks have begun with Tanzania over a possible 1,000km pipeline to deliver LNG for power generation in land-locked Zambia, energy minister Peter Kapala told African Energy.

The rules governing a new mechanism for the international trading of carbon emission reduction credits is due to be agreed at the Bonn Climate Change Conference, which runs from 6-16 June in Germany. The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) – which has so far proved of limited value to Africa – is set to be replaced by Article 6 of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference’s Paris Agreement, which is intended to offer governments and project owners the potential to tap into a  new source of finance.

Talks are at an advanced stages for West Africa Gas Limited (WAGL) Energy, a joint venture between Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) and local conglomerate Sahara Group, to develop liquid petroleum gas supply in West Africa through the construction of jetties and other infrastructure.

Aksa Enerji sees opportunities in African GTP markets for the conversion of open cycle gas turbine (OCGT) plants to combined cycle (CCGT). In March it was gazetted that Aksa had been awarded a four-year provisional independent power producer (IPP) licence by the Republic of Congo government, which may indicate the Turkish firm will develop its own IPPs too.

Members of the Parliament of Ghana have opposed a plan by deputy energy minister William Aidoo to move the 250MW Ameri gas-to-power (GTP) power plant to Kumasi, capital of the Ashanti region.

Golar LNG has announced that the offtakers for its floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel Hilli Episeyo “have elected to exercise” 0.2m t/yr “production volumes from 2023 to July 2026”. This will see Hilli’s 1.4m t/yr production continue for the next three years, Golar said in a 27 July statement.

According to energy minister January Makamba, the host government agreement (HGA) for the $30bn Lindi LNG project is expected to be completed by December.

Algeria underlined its commitment to supplying increased volumes of gas to Italy, when Sonatrach president director-general Toufik Hakkar said on 21 September that deliveries would rise by around 13% this year to 25.2bcm.

Presidents Samia Suluhu Hassan and Filipe Nyusi on 20 September announced agreements to enhance defence and hydrocarbon co-operation between Tanzania and Mozambique.

Norway’s DNO has bought Mondoil Enterprises from United Arab Emirates-based RAK Petroleum. Mondoil Enterprises holds a 33.3% stake in Foxtrot International, which has interests in offshore gas and associated liquids in Côte d'Ivoire.

The Mauritanian government gave an elevated estimate of over 50tcf of gas reserves at the offshore BirAllah field the day before operator BP confirmed, on 12 October, that it had signed an exploration and production-sharing contract (PSC) for the acreage.

Eni’s board of directors has approved the investment for the first phase development of the Coral gas discovery in Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin. The approval is a key step towards the final investment decision (FID) on the Coral South project, which will become effective once all the Area 4 partners have approved it and the project financing, which is being finalised, has been agreed. The project involves the construction of six subsea wells connected to a floating production facility with a liquefaction capacity of over 3.3m t/yr of liquefied natural gas (LNG), equivalent to 5bcm.

A group led by Anadarko Petroleum Corporation is nearing a final investment decision (FID) on the Golfinho-Atum liquefied natural gas (LNG) scheme, with long-term offtake agreements and a potential financial close finally coming into view even though sale of the full 12.8m t/yr nameplate capacity from the first two liquefaction trains is unlikely to be finalised before the key move. The Mozambique LNG (Area 1) partners have signed a long-term offtake agreement with EDF, a non-binding accord with equity partner PTTEP and a smaller contract to sell up to 280,000 t/yr for 15 years to Japan’s Tohoku Electric Power Company.

No one doubts that gas fields in the Rovuma Basin offshore Mozambique and Tanzania hold huge reserves of gas. A 27 April-8 May International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff mission to Maputo concluded: “Mozambique’s plans to develop its oil and gas sector in the Rovuma Basin will represent one of the largest investments ever seen in Africa (up to $100bn) and could transform the country into the third largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter in the world.” The critical question is how quickly that gas can be brought to market, and in what direction it goes.

While most work has been suspended at Total’s Mozambique LNG project site, drilling is set to resume at Eni’s offshore Coral South development in Area 4. The National Petroleum Institute (INP) announced the arrival of the Saipem 12000 drillship at Pemba on 5 January, ready to resume drilling and completion operations. Drilling started in September 2019 but was suspended in April 2020 due to coronavirus restrictions.