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While Mozambique’s liquefied natural gas projects line up buyers, progress remains stalled in neighbouring Tanzania. Norway’s Equinor says it is still waiting for talks on a host government agreement (HGA) for its planned liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. “Equinor, on behalf of the partners in Block 2, has agreed with the government to start negotiations on the host government agreement for the planned Tanzanian LNG plant in Lindi. We have no updates at this time on the timeframe for the negotiations,” a spokesman told African Energy.

Liverpool-based Clarke Energy has announced a deal with Kuvaninga Energia to supply ten Jenbacher J624 natural gas engines for a 40MW power plant near Chokwé. The plant is being developed as an independent power project owned by Kuvaninga Energia; comprising local energy company Kuvaninga Moçambique (25%), Enventure Partners (37.5%) and Investec Bank (37.5%). It reached financial close on 30 November 2013. South Africa’s Group 5 is the turnkey engineering, procurement and construction contractor, and South African company ADC Projects will run day-to-day operations at the power plant.

The governments of Mauritania and Senegal have agreed on an offshore site about 8km from the coast on the maritime boundary as the location for gas processing and liquefaction facilities for the Tortue development. A statement from Mauritania’s oil, energy and mines ministry said minister Mohamed Salem Ould Bechir and his Senegalese counterpart, Thierno Alassane Sall, had discussed the project by telephone on 9 June.

State-owned Riaba Fertilizers Limited has awarded the engineering, procurement and construction contract for a new petrochemicals complex to a Chinese consortium led by East China Engineering Science and Technology Company (ECEC). The complex, planned to be built at Riaba, on the south-east coast of Bioko Island, will comprise an ammonia and urea plant with production capacity of 1.5m t/yr. A gas supply agreement for gas from fields east of Bioko Island is in place with the Block O and I operator Noble Energy and its partners Gunvor, Atlas Petroleum International and Glencore. Pre-front end engineering design work has been completed by WorleyParsons.

Having secured new equity finance and access to local debt markets, Sound Energy expects to receive a concession for its initial development in the Tendrara-Meridja Basin by Q4 2017 or Q1 2018, and will then start drilling 18 development wells to produce gas for sale into the local market from Q3 2019. The AIM-listed company sees this as an initial phase in its Moroccan operation. Speaking in Milan on 26 January, managing director Luca Madeddu said Sound had identified three other areas for possible future development.

Dato Sandroshvili has joined Ophir Energy in a new post as head of mergers and acquisitions. He was previously a managing director at investment banking advisory firm Evercore Partners, where he worked on a succession of transactions for Ophir. The Financial Times noted that Ophir, which was backed by Indian steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, Polish billionaire Jan Kulczyk and the US hedge fund Och Ziff ahead of its 2011 share flotation, has long been seen as an eventual takeover target. Ophir sold down 20% of its Tanzanian gas assets in 2013 to Pavilion Energy for $1.29bn, but markets have raised concerns about its ability to raise the finance for a global-scale development.

BP has said its recent three-well drilling campaign offshore Mauritania and Senegal “has further confirmed the world-class scale of the gas resource in the region”. Three appraisal wells drilled this year, GTA-1, Yakaar-2 and Orca-1, encountered gas in high-quality reservoirs in all nine hydrocarbon-bearing zones targeted. The wells, the first to be operated by BP after it took over as operator from Kosmos Energy, encountered 160 metres of total gas pay.

Total has taken over the contract to supply Algerian gas to France as part of a wider agreement to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets from another major French company, Engie. The deal, agreed in early November, should become effective from 1 January and is expected to close by mid-2018. Total is buying Engie’s worldwide LNG assets for as much as $2.04bn, including interests in liquefaction plants, long-term LNG sales and purchase agreements, a fleet of ten tankers (to add to Total’s three existing carriers) and access to regasification capacity.

Statoil has announced a new natural gas discovery with the Mdalasini-1 exploration well on the southern edge of Block 2. Partner ExxonMobil did not participate in the well, which was drilled in a water depth of 2,296 metres, encountering gas in Tertiary and Cretaceous sandstones. Reserves are estimated at 1-1.8tcf of natural gas in place, bringing the total of in-place volumes in the block to approximately 22tcf. “The Mdalasini-1 discovery marks the completion of the first phase of an efficient and successful multi-well exploration programme offshore Tanzania,” said Nick Maden, senior vice-president for Statoil’s exploration activities in the Western Hemisphere.

The United Arab Emirates’ Dodsal Group has discovered 2.17tcf of gas reserves in the Ruvu Basin Block west of Dar es Salaam, according to local media reports. Dodsal acquired the 15,300km2 licence in November 2007. Energy and minerals minister Sospeter Muhongo was quoted as saying the discovery was made last July, but the announcement was delayed because Tanzania was going through a political transition and the Oil and Gas Revenues Management Act 2015, which gives the minister powers to make such a declaration, was not yet operational.

Golar LNG Limited has announced that the Hilli Episeyo floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel departed Keppel Shipyard on 1 October. Following mechanical completion, the vessel has been moved to deep-water anchorage where Keppel Shipyard will complete final marine commissioning. Hilli Episeyo is expected to leave Singapore between 15 and 20 October and will be deployed offshore Kribi for Société Nationale des Hydrocarbures (SNH) and Perenco as the first FLNG project in Africa.

Italy’s Eni has announced a gas and condensate discovery in the pre-salt Nyonie Deep prospect in Block D4. The discovery will be welcome news following a string of unsuccessful wells drilled by Ophir Energy and comes as the government negotiates with bidders for new pre-salt blocks offered in a recent licensing round. Eni estimated initial reserves in place at 500m boe. The discovery was made with the NFW Nyonie Deep 1 well, which was drilled in 28 metres of water to a total depth of 4,314 metres.

Tlou Energy has begun production drilling operations at the Lesedi coal bed methane (CBM) project. The first pilot well, Lesedi 3P, spudded on 16 October. Tlou will drill the wells as dual lateral pods, comprising a single vertical production well intersected by two lateral wells. This will be followed by production testing with the potential to convert a significant portion of gas resources to firm reserves and to deliver gas to a proposed central processing facility and power station nearby.Production start-up from the pilot wells is targeted for early 2019.

The government is planning to introduce a hydrocarbons bill to give oil and gas exploration and production (E&P) its own legislative framework and kick-start investment in the undeveloped sector. The resources sector is legislated by the 2015 Mining Code – more than three-quarters of whose articles have yet to be brought into effect via the approval of implementing degrees – but that law specifically states that water, liquid hydrocarbons and gas are excluded. E&P is thus without any legislative framework.

NamPower has selected a consortium of Shanghai Electric and Siemens as the preferred bidder to build an 800MW power station at Oranjemund fuelled by gas from the offshore Kudu field. Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries is the reserve bidder. NamPower shortlisted 15 companies for the combined cycle power plant in July 2013. Speaking at a conference in Windhoek, NamPower managing director Paulinus Shilamba said Standard Bank Namibia had been selected as mandated lead arranger to handle the project financing, with Rand Merchant Bank Namibia as reserve bidder.