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Eni on 26 April announced the start-up of the second production unit at the Zohr gas project, which will double installed capacity to 800mcf/d. Eni said the production ramp-up was planned to continue to reach 1.2bcf/d in May 2018, 2bcf/d by end-2018 and the production plateau of 2.7bcf/d in 2019. Zohr was discovered in August 2015 in the Shorouk Block in the Mediterranean Sea and started production in December 2017.

The row over South African construction company Group Five’s disastrous contract with Cenpower Generation Company Ltd to build the 340MW Kpone combined-cycle gas power plant in Tema has escalated after Cenpower attempted to terminate it. Cenpower issued written notification of the termination on 30 November following numerous delays. However, Group Five said the notice of termination was wrongful as it claimed recent delays were the result of the contamination of fuel supplied by Cenpower.

US independent Noble Energy and Israel’s Delek Drilling, partners in Israel’s Leviathan and Tamar gas fields, have teamed up with Egypt’s East Gas Company to buy a 39% stake in the Eastern Mediterranean Gas Company (EMGC) for $518m.EMGC operates a 90km pipeline connecting the Israeli pipeline network from Ashkelon to the Egyptian pipeline network near El Arish. In February, Noble signed an export deal with Egypt’s Dolphinus Holdings to supply gas from the two offshore fields into the Egyptian market over ten years.

Sound Energy has finalised agreements to acquire the assets of Morocco’s Oil & Gas Investment Fund (OGIF) in eastern Morocco, and has started drilling the TE-8 appraisal well. OGIF will receive 272m shares, or 28.8% of Sound’s enlarged share capital. The deal gives Sound an additional 20% in the Tendrara Block, the right to increase its Meridja stake to 75% and the right to acquire 75% in relinquished areas of Tendrara.

BG Group has announced an increase in total recoverable resources for the Mzia discovery and across blocks 1, 3 and 4 offshore southern Tanzania, marking the conclusion of a drilling and testing campaign that confirmed the Mzia field as a second giant gas discovery after Jodari, with 4.7tcf of total gross recoverable resources. Total gross recoverable resources across BG’s blocks 1, 3 and 4 are now estimated to be around 15tcf, with further exploration upside, while Statoil estimates 17-20tcf of gas in place in Block 2.

Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria on 30 November signed a gas supply and aggregation agreement for the 140MW Aba power project in Abia State, Nigeria. The project has been under development for some time by Geometric Power Aba Ltd, whose chief executive is former energy minister Barth Nnaji.

The 550mcf/d Höegh Gallant floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) has been installed by Norway’s Höegh at Ain Sokhna, on the Red Sea, and a first delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has arrived from Qatar. The Höegh Gallant has been leased to Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas) for a five-year period. Höegh LNG formally signed a five-year contract with Egas for the vessel at the beginning of November. Egas plans to install a second FSRU at Ain Sokhna later this year, but details have yet to be revealed.

The Ministry of Petroleum and Mineral Resources has given its approval for the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company to grant Eni the Zohr Development Lease, which allows for the development of the Zohr gas field in the offshore Shorouk Concession. Eni’s ambitious development plan envisages the start of production by the end of 2017, just two years after the discovery, with a progressive ramp-up to reach a volume of about 75mcf/d by 2019. “The quick realisation of such a large project will be possible through cooperation with Petrojet, Enppi and Saipem contractors, who have always contributed to the success of Eni’s development activities in Egypt,” Eni said.

Angola has announced a licensing round offering nine blocks in the Namibe Basin and Block 10 in the Benguela Basin. The National Agency of Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) will hold a series of roadshows in Houston, London and Dubai in September before the bidding process opens on 2 October.“Our message to the global oil industry is simple: Angola is open for business.

Springfield Exploration and Production has announced that the Afina-1 well on West Cape Three Points Block 2 contains 1.5bn barrels of oil in place and 0.7tcf of gas. Afina-1, which is located at a water depth of 1,030 metres, was drilled to a total depth of 4,085 metres and encountered light oil with a gross thickness of 65 metres, with 50 metres of net light oil pay in good quality Cenomanian sandstones.

The first big transaction in a predicted wave of industry consolidation prompted by the low oil price, the deal boosted the value of other rumoured bid targets such as Tullow Oil and Ophir Energy. Acquiring BG will increase Shell’s reserves by about a quarter and its production by some 20%, as well as delivering key assets in deep-water Brazil and the Queensland Curtis liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. Shell’s £47bn ($67bn) bid was priced at a 50% premium to BG’s share price, which has been depressed by concerns about the cost of its flagship Brazil and Australian projects, as well as controversy over the pay package offered to new chief executive Helge Lund.

Denham Capital-backed developer Neo Themis announced this month that it is the lead developer for the 550MW Kingline open-cycle gas project in Ondo State. The announcement is a boost for the Nigerian power generation sector, which has experienced a difficult few years as the Nigerian Bulk Electricity Trader (NBET) and distribution companies have struggled to achieve commercial sustainability. There has been some speculation that the ‘super ministry’ comprising housing, power and works could be broken up following the re-election of President Mohammadu Buhari.

The World Bank is considering support for Eni’s Sankofa oil and gas project on the Offshore Cape Three Points (OCTP) block. The proposed support package would include World Bank guarantees to support investments in phase 2 of the project, which will develop the Sankofa gas field, and an International Finance Corporation loan as part of a debt financing package for Vitol. Vitol has also applied for a $470m Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (Miga) guarantee against the risks of transfer restriction, expropriation, and breach of contract. Miga may also provide coverage for non-shareholder loans from commercial lenders yet to be identified.

The government will officially launch a new oil and gas licensing round, known as EG Ronda 2016, at the Africa Oil & Power conference on 6-7 June at the Westin Hotel in Cape Town. The Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy said in October 2015 that it planned a bid round this year, offering all remaining deep and ultra-deepwater blocks. The last bid round in 2014 offered all the country’s open acreage, with four blocks next to existing discoveries offered for direct negotiation and the others for competitive bidding.

Edinburgh-based Bowleven has been awarded a one-year extension to the Bomono exploration licence, pending the final award of an Exploitation Authorisation. The application was submitted to the Cameroon authorities in December before the exploration licence expired, to enable development activities to go ahead. Approval has yet to be granted, but the extension ensures that the AIM-listed company’s interest in the acreage is maintained.