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To jubilation among President Abdel Fattah El Sisi’s supporters, the Petroleum Ministry announced on 16 December that the giant offshore Zohr natural gas field had started production. Such is the Mediterranean deep water resource’s scale and strategic importance that Italian operator Eni fast-tracked its investment decision and development work during a period when many other offshore upstream projects were put on hold. Discovered only in August 2015, Zohr’s development will relieve pressure on the domestic market – a good reason for Sisi’s administration to agree attractive terms.

Azonto Petroleum is in talks with the government about a further extension to the Offshore Accra contract area. A six-month extension to the initial exploration period was granted in March, but Azonto said it had not had enough time to conclude a planned farm-out. The block is operated by Azonto Petroleum (Ghana), owned 57% by Azonto Petroleum, the former Rialto Energy, and 43% by Vitol E&P. Azonto’s partners are Afex Global and Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, which has a 10% carried interest.

Eni has announced a gas discovery in the Baltim South licence in the offshore Nile Delta. The Baltim South West 1X well penetrated approximately 120 metres of gross gas column and 62 metres of net pay in Messinian-age sandstones. The well was drilled in a water depth of 25 metres, 12km from the coast and 10km north of the Nooros field, discovered in July 2015. Production from Nooros reached 65,000 boe/d in May and is expected to reach 120,000 boe/d by year-end.

The award of a first methane gas concession on Lake Kivu has run into problems following a legal challenge to the licence award. Kivu Lake Energy Corporation (KLEC), which came out top in the bid adjudication in February, challenged a decision by the Ministry of Hydrocarbons to award a provisional construction licence to a consortium led by Tunisia’s Engineering Procurement and Project Management (EPPM), Swede Energy DRC and Kenya’s TransCentury.

Axxela Limited, the former Oando Gas & Power, announced on 6 December that it had signed a gas transportation agreement with the West African Gas Pipeline Company (Wapco) to transport over 15mcf/d of natural gas via the West African Gas Pipeline (WAGP) to Lomé. The gas is expected to be supplied to the 100MW ContourGlobal thermal power plant. The transportation deal follows a gas supply agreement signed on 8 June with Compagnie Energie Electrique du Togo (CEET).

Mozambique and Equatorial Guinea signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on 5 March to enhance bilateral relations in the energy and mining sectors. The MoU was signed in Maputo by Equatorial Guinea’s mines and hydrocarbons minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima and Mozambique’s mineral resources and energy minister Ernesto Max Elias Tonela. This agreement is the latest in a series of bilateral energy cooperation MoUs signed by Equatorial Guinea with African countries.

BP and Kosmos Energy have announced a major gas discovery with the Yakaar-1 well in the Cayar Offshore Profond Block. While the joint venture had been hoping for liquids, the Yakaar discovery, coupled with the 2016 Teranga discovery, creates the foundation for a further liquefied natural gas (LNG) hub in the basin in addition to Tortue. The advantage of Yakaar/Teranga is that it lies wholly in Senegalese waters, while Tortue is being jointly developed with Mauritania.

Following on from the five-year charter of a floating storage and regasification unit from Norway-based Höegh (AE 298/19), Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas) has invited bids from eight international companies to lease a second floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal, to receive 42 cargoes/yr of LNG, each of 140,000m3-170,000m3. The Höegh terminal at Ain Sokhna – where the second unit will also be moored on the Gulf of Suez – is already in operation and expected to receive its third cargo in mid-May, according to Egas chairman Khaled Abdel-Badie.

An electricity interconnection allowing Ghana to supply Burkina Faso with an initial 50MW, ramping up to 100MW, is poised to come into service, according to Ghanaian officials. The 208km (37km in Ghana and 171km in Burkina Faso) 225kV simple-circuit transmission line from Bolgatanga to Ouagadougou is designed to export lower-cost hydropower and gas-fired thermal energy generated in Ghana to landlocked Burkina Faso. The project reflects Ghana’s shift from being a net importer to exporter of power.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) announced on 4 March that it had signed a €303m ($329m) full debt financing package for the 390MW Atinkou, or Ciprel V combined-cycle gas turbine power plant. Atinkou, meaning house of light in the Ebrié language, will be located at Jacqueville, about 40km west of Abidjan, and is expected to begin construction in Q2 2020. The IFC is providing a €91m loan as well as interest rate swaps to hedge the project’s interest rate risk.

Despite the negative outlook for Libya’s oil and gas sector in general, some business is still possible. On 13 June, National Oil Corporation (NOC) agreed to restore gas supply to two urea plants operated by Libya Norwegian Fertiliser Company (LifeCo) at Marsa Al-Brega. It said in a statement that factory operations were expected to restart shortly.

The energy industry will predictably express concern at the prospect for the reforms and investor-friendly policies promoted with increasing vigour since Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour became head of state energy giant Sonatrach in 2017. Buffeted by years of crisis that stalled critical oil and gas projects, it is unlikely any incoming government will wittingly do harm to the Algerian economy’s main source of revenue, but more change seems inevitable.

The Orca and Tweneboa results will be highly significant for Ivorian Lebanese architect Pierre Fakhoury, who has just acquired 3D seismic on his highly prospective deepwater Block CI-100, which lies immediately south of CI-401 adjacent to Côte d’Ivoire’s border with Ghana. He will need a farm-in partner to finance a well but is dragging his feet, reluctant to surrender his independence. Fakhoury designed the huge basilica in the political capital of Yamoussoukro for Côte d’Ivoire’s late president Félix Houphouët-Boigny, and was more recently awarded a series of infrastructure contracts for the expansion of Abidjan port and for new government buildings in Yamoussoukro.

Operator Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company on 5 October announced the start-up of production from the Bonga Phase 3 project. Bonga Phase 3 is an expansion of the Bonga Main development, with peak production expected to be some 50,000 boe/d. This will be transported through existing pipelines to the Bonga floating production, storage and offloading facility, which has the capacity to produce more than 200,000 b/d of oil and 150mcf/d of gas.

The government has announced plans for an LNG terminal on Equatorial Guinea’s mainland. The new plant will be built at the port of Akonikien on the southern border by local contractor Elite Construcciones. It will have a storage capacity of 14,000m3 in 12 bullet tanks as well as a truck loading station and 12km of gas and diesel pipelines, and will enable the transportation and storage of LNG produced at the EGLNG plant at the Punta Europa Gas Complex on Bioko Island.