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Wide-ranging reform of Angola’s power sector is making progress, but with the economy heavily dependent on oil revenues, investment plans could be significantly slowed. Angola-watchers suggest the effects on the domestic economy of sharply lower global oil prices, coupled with the continued uncertainty over veteran President José Eduardo dos Santos’ succession plans, may create a ‘perfect storm’ that could hasten the long-awaited regime change.

Parliamentary approval for a deal to install up to 400MW at Tema opens the way for a power purchase agreement to be signed by the Early Power Ltd consortium of Endeavor Energy, the local Sage Petroleum and GE. Local advocacy groups have raised concerns about pricing, but the Bridge Power project is the only new scheme currently working its way through the system, where other independent power projects have been stalled by World Bank and other donors’ concerns over financing.

US developer Symbion Power Tanzania Ltd on 13 March filed a request for arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris claiming breach of contract due to non-payment by Tanzania Electricity Supply Corporation (Tanesco) for power from the 126MW Ubungo plant (AE 331/1). Symbion says Tanesco has refused to pay for its power since the contract was agreed, claiming variously that the power purchase agreement (PPA) had been “put on hold”, never been signed or, later, that it had been rescinded.

SDX Energy sees more acquisition opportunities in Egypt following its purchase of Circle Oil’s assets, as other companies look to reduce their exposure or pull out altogether. SDX, which listed on London’s AIM market in May 2016, plans to spud a well this month on Egypt’s South Disouq licence followed by further exploration drilling in Egypt and Morocco (AE 339/14).

After announcing a “world class” gas find in May, Kosmos Energy has found more gas deeper in the Tortue discovery, which has been renamed Ahmeyim at the government’s request. In addition to the 107 metres of pay found in the primary Cenomanian target, the well intersected ten metres in the lower Albian section. Chevron has an option to take a 30% stake in Ahmeyim, which has opened a new outboard Cretaceous petroleum system offshore Mauritania and northern Senegal.

Veteran Resistência Nacional Moçambicana (Renamo) leader Afonso Dhlakama’s surprise return to the bush in October 2012 was an unsettling reminder of the fragility of post-conflict Mozambique, as guerrilla roadblocks returned and coal exports were halted in the central region. Renamo’s rebellion was triggered by demands for a greater share of state jobs and resources. A peace agreement signed on 24 August 2014 promised jobs, above all in the army and police, and set a platform for campaigning to start for general elections on 15 October.

Total and its partners are gearing up to drill the Venus-1 well on Block 2912 in late 2019 or early 2020, hoping for a second discovery to follow the Brulpadda gas condensate find drilled offshore South Africa early this year.“This is a massive submarine fan, it’s the biggest one any of us have ever seen. It’s about 600km2,” Africa Oil Corporation president and chief executive Keith Hill told the Africa E&P conference in London on 22 May.

Key upstream partners are making bullish noises about their Algerian operations, but a call by judicial authorities to reopen investigations into historic accusations of malfeasance at state energy giant Sonatrach threatens to undermine confidence (see View). Italian major Eni has been anxious to secure long-term contracts and reiterate its commitment to Algerian business after ex-president Abdelaziz Bouteflika left office. Gas supply deals were signed in June with Portuguese buyer Galp and Sonatrach’s largest Italian client, Enel.

The African Petroleum Producers’ Organisation (Appo) is seeking a leadership role as the continent’s oil and gas industry starts to mature. At the heart of its ambitions lies its members’ common aim to unshackle themselves from dependence on international oil companies (IOCs). Much as the technical and financial contribution of IOCs is understood and desired, at another level it is also resented. Appo’s aim is to create a new Africa-wide solidarity that would enable its members to deal with the global industry on a more equal basis.

Paris-based private equity investor Eranove Group has moved quickly to issue a call for expressions of interest from engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) specialists to develop a new 350MW combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plant. Eranove’s project fits with government plans to double national generation capacity to 4GW by 2020. The Council of Ministers on 31 August approved a plan for Abidjan’s two established independent power producers, Eranove’s local generation subsidiary Compagnie Ivoirienne de Production d’Electricité (Ciprel) and Globeleq’s Azito Energie, to further expand in the next three years.

Sonatrach has given Amec Foster Wheeler a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract for three new refineries located in Biskra, Tiaret and Hassi Messaoud. The three refineries will each have a capacity of 5m t/yr of Algerian crude oil and contain facilities for atmospheric distillation, liquefied petroleum gas separation, hydrocrackers, desulphurisation, bitumen production, utilities, blending, effluents treatment, control room and laboratories. The Biskra site will include lubrication oil facilities.

The US Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Opic) has approved up to $50m in direct financing to support the 459MW Azura-Edo power project near Benin City, in Edo State. Key contracts and debt financing agreements were completed early in May, allowing construction to start on the open-cycle gas turbine plant. The project is 97.5% owned by Azura Edo Ltd, whose equity holders are Azura Power Holdings Ltd (50%), which is majority owned by Mauritius-based Amaya Capital and US investment fund American Capital Energy & Infrastructure (ACEI), Macquarie Group and Old Mutual’s African Infrastructure Investment Fund 2 (30%), the UK’s Aldwych International (9.2%), Nigerian asset manager Asset and Resource Management Ltd (6%) and the Netherlands’ FMO (4.8%).

Seplat Petroleum Development Company has acquired stakes in two Niger Delta licences sold by Chevron Nigeria. The company, which raised $500m with a share listing in London and Lagos last year and is also considering a bid for Afren (AE 292/19), has completed the acquisition of a 40% stake in OML 53, as well as indirectly buying 22.5% in OML 55. Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has 60% in both blocks. Seplat will acquire the OML 55 stake by buying 56.25% of Belemaoil Producing Limited, a special purpose vehicle that has completed the acquisition of 40% in the licence from Chevron.

Nigeria LNG (NLNG) Limited has awarded contracts to two consortia for front-end engineering design (FEED) work for its long-awaited Train 7 expansion project. A signing ceremony took place in London on 11 July for the project, which aims to increase liquefied natural gas output to 30m t/yr from 22m t/yr now. A completed FEED process will pave the way for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) pricing and bidding processes, which are required before a final investment decision (FID).

East Africa could benefit from the results of a European Commission-funded study coordinated by Spain’s Enagás aimed at developing a safe and efficient, integrated logistics and supply chain for liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the transport industry, particularly for maritime transport in the Iberian peninsula. The study is scheduled to be completed by end-2020 at a total cost of €33m, of which half comes from the European Commission. The study will make recommendations for the Spanish and Portuguese national policy frameworks for alternative fuel supply infrastructure, and will prepare plans for future commercial deployment along the Mediterranean and Atlantic corridors in the Iberian peninsula.