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Cyprus and Egypt signed an agreement on 31 August for the transport of natural gas between the two countries via a subsea pipeline. The agreement was signed in Nicosia by Cypriot energy, commerce, industry and tourism minister Georgios Lakkotrypis, and Egyptian petroleum and mineral resources minister Tarek El Molla. It covers the transport of natural gas via a direct subsea pipeline from the Cyprus exclusive economic zone to a landing point in Egypt, either for domestic consumption or re-export. The Cyprus energy ministry said it was one of a series of legal arrangements to support the sale of Cypriot gas to buyers in Egypt, provide certainty to investors and complement commercial discussions currently under way.

Oando Energy Resources (OER) has finally completed its acquisition of ConocoPhillips’ Nigerian upstream oil and gas business for $1.5bn plus a deferred consideration of $33m, in a deal that will increase Oando’s production tenfold. The onshore assets consist of Phillips Oil Company Nigeria Limited, which holds a 20% non-operating interest in oil mining leases (OMLs) 60, 61, 62 and 63, as well as related infrastructure and facilities in the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) joint venture with Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation with a 60% interest, and NAOC (20% and operator).

Greek company Mytilineos signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with General Electricity Company of Libya (Gecol) for a new dual-fuel power plant in Tobruk to be built by its Metka unit. The agreement was signed in Tripoli on 27 September. One of the most important questions over the realisation of the 650MW open-cycle plant is whether Tripoli-based Gecol will be able to reliably finance and manage a large and expensive infrastructure project in eastern Libya while its authority is being continually challenged by an alternative power company based in the Cyrenaica city of Al-Baida.

London Stock Exchange-listed Ophir Energy has announced that its high-impact Mlinzi Mbali-1 well in offshore Block 7 failed to find hydrocarbons. The Deepsea Metro I drillship is now drilling the Sunbird well on Kenyan Block 10A for BG Group. It will then return to Tanzania, where wells are planned on Block 1 and on the Ophir-operated East Pande Block during H1 2014. Broker Investec said that, while Mlinzi was “a disappointment, the well was a high-risk prospect and only the first well in a 2014 programme that now includes up to ten wells, seven of which represent play openers”.

On 20 December, a first 153MW turbine began power generation at the landmark 459MW Azura-Edo gas-to-power plant, Nigeria’s first fully privatised independent power project to reach financial close and a trailblazer for private sector involvement in the power sector. The project template – from the commercially competitive gas supply agreement with Seplat to World Bank guarantees and private sector-led development – is being seen as a model for independent gas-fired power projects in Nigeria

Despite governance shortfalls and a number of crises, President Filipe Nyusi’s government has reassured investors with its support for transformational LNG schemes, leading towards final investment decisions and financial close in the months to come. This is a major success for an African gas industry where smaller projects seem to be making more impact than the majority of big-ticket schemes. Mozambique’s progress reassured CbI Meetings’ 2-3 May Africa Investment Exchange: Gas event in London that the African industry can deliver world-scale projects.

As energy imports dry up, Namibia is hopeful that short-term measures will help keep the lights on until the bigger Baynes and Kudu schemes can be realised. Botswana is having a harder time of it, with criticism of the government’s slow response to the looming supply crunch and a series of problems at the key Morupule B plant. The Gaborone government has maintained the subsidy paid to Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) in the 2015 budget, saying the continued underperformance of the electricity sector was a major concern.

The World Bank Group is seeking expressions of interest from consultants for a market study of LNG and gas distribution from the planned Richards Bay terminal. South Africa’s Transnet and the International Finance Corporation are seeking a consultant to assist in the techno-economic validation of the market that can be supplied from a fully commercial LNG terminal through a virtual pipeline network. The government has been considering a LNG-to-power programme, but plans are on hold until the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) is published later this year.

A draft of the updated integrated resource plan (IRP) 2010-2030 has been released by South Africa’s Department of Energy (DoE) for public comment. The document revises downwards the 2030 electricity demand forecast from 454TWh in the 2010 IRP to 345-416TWh, with significant implications for nuclear power strategy. This means that peak generation will be 61,200MW rather than 67,800MW, at the upper end of the demand forecast. The reduced demand forecast means that a decision on nuclear power can be delayed until the costs and alternatives are better understood.

Houston-based Endeavor Energy has entered into a joint development agreement with Ivorian company Starenergie2073 to develop the 375MW Songon gas-to-power project using imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). The project will include a combined-cycle gas turbine plant, purpose-built LNG import infrastructure and a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU), along the lines of Endeavor’s Ghana 1000 project.Endeavor said it would own a majority of the project equity, and provide construction management, fuel management and commercial management services. The project is expected to reach financial close in December.

Transport minister Amadou Koné on 17 December launched a fleet of buses fuelled by compressed natural gas (CNG). Engie and Tractebel worked together to engineer, supply and install a CNG fuelling station at the Société des Transports Abidjanais (Sotra) depot in Abidjan’s Yopougon district for 50 Crealis buses, supplied by Iveco, which will run on CNG in the Abidjan area.

AIM-listed Sound Energy has announced a better-than-expected gas flow from the TE-7 appraisal well on the Tendrara licence, and has raised a net £24.3m ($32m) through a share offer as it talks up the potential for a “huge gas deposit”. The share offer, at the market price rather than a discount, used the PrimaryBid.com online platform to enable private investors to participate on the same terms as institutions.

President Paul Kagame on 16 May officially inaugurated the KivuWatt methane-to-power plant at Kibuye. The plant has been operating since December, supplying 25MW to the grid from three Wärtsilä 34SG engines running on methane gas extracted from Lake Kivu. ContourGlobal said the technology was working better than expected and it aimed to be producing 34MW by year-end. “Our design and technology are performing even better than expected and we are pleased to announce today that the gas extraction facility will support at least an additional 9MW of power generation.

Société Tunisienne d’Electricité et du Gaz (Steg) is determined to retain its central role in power generation despite its financial weakness and government efforts to promote independent solar projects and the liberalisation of the sector. It is seeking a capital injection and is looking at ways of increasing revenue to resolve a severe liquidity crisis.

The Volta River Authority is seeking bids for the engineering and design, supply, installation and commissioning of the Takoradi 4 project, a 186MW gas turbine combined cycle power plant at the Takoradi thermal power station site. The bidding document specifies a 30-month completion period. A mandatory site visit and pre-bid meeting is scheduled for 7 July, and bids are due by 25 July. Eligible bidders should offer funding support from the export credit agencies of the countries in which they plan to source equipment and services.