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The government has ratified an exploration licence for Raven Resources Group subsidiary Corvus Resources Management to explore Block 6 in the Taoudeni Basin (AE 259/1). Calgary-based Raven is headed by Adeniyi Makanjuola, whose father Aderemi is a close associate of Michael Adenuga, owner of Conoil. Aderemi Makanjuola is chairman of Caverton Helicopters, a significant player in the oil service sector, while Adeniyi is executive vice chairman.

The Supreme Constitutional Court ruling on 9 June confirming Abdullah Al-Thinni as prime minister and ruling out the claim of his supposed successor Ahmed Maetig has been accepted by all sides and restored a degree of authority and unity to a country which has seemed on the verge of splitting in two over the past month. Thinni effectively returns to the role as caretaker in advance of elections to a new interim parliament – to be called the House of Representatives – scheduled for 25 June. It is not clear whether he will be able to revive the partial deal that he struck with the federalist groups blockading ports in eastern Libya in early April, nor whether he can impose central government control on retired General Khalifa Haftar, who has been conducting an unauthorised counterterrorism offensive against Islamist groups in Cyrenaica.

The unions don’t like it and neither do many northern politicians. But publicly, at least, a majority in government and business are behind the president’s efforts to remove subsidies on petrol, writes Leonard Lawal in Lagos

With more than half of production shut in, a security deficit under which many international oil companies (IOCs) will not operate, and budget and decision-making problems which mean that new projects are stymied, there are few ways in which National Oil Corporation (NOC) and the Ministry of Oil and Gas can move forward. But officials are pushing ahead with the drafting of a new hydrocarbons law. In March, the ministry formed a 21-member Petroleum Law Review Committee containing specialists from within and outside the sector. It is chaired by Najmi Karim, who was previously chairman of Mellitah Oil and Gas. A committee to revise the terms of the new EPSA-V licensing model has been established in parallel.

Forces in Cyrenaica opposed to the United Nations-imposed Government of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli have provoked a definitive challenge to its authority by blockading oil exports from the only major terminal still working in Libya. The damaging financial consequences of this action will be felt across the whole country, and the total shutdown of production – possibly within days – will also cause immense technical problems. But for those behind the action, such concerns may now be secondary as they attempt to shift the balance of the conflict in favour of the east, while also preparing for a likely military confrontation in the central zone presently dominated by Islamic State (IS).

Democratic Republic of Congo catches the imagination of those who see its potential to drive Africa’s future through its mineral wealth, resourceful population and the Inga Falls hydroelectric resource. But grandiose visions tend to founder on rocky realities in this vast, extravagantly diverse country, where power politics and the global commodities price crash – which in early May forced the government to cut 2016 spending by some 22% – have deeply unsettled much of what remains of international business. In May, major investor Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Cobalt announced it was selling up.

Upstream operator Total has signed a host government agreement (HGA) with Uganda for its proposed oil export pipeline project connecting Uganda’s oil fields to Tanzania’s Tanga port. “We have today reached major milestones which pave the way to the final investment decision [FID] in the coming months.

After considerable speculation that the government might seek a new concessionaire or even nationalise the power utility, the Ivorian cabinet on 30 September approved a new concession agreement for Compagnie Ivoirienne d’Electricité (CIE), renewing the existing agreement which expires at the end of October.

The long-awaited sector regulator Autorité Nationale de Régulation de l’Electricité (ANRE) has finally held its first board meeting in Rabat, approving its working procedures and a strategic road map for 2021-25. Details have yet to be published.

A French court has dismissed an appeal by two French and four Ugandan NGOs seeking to challenge Total’s handling of the Tilenga development project. The case is the first to be brought under France’s 2017 Corporate Duty of Vigilance law, and the NGOs hope to establish a precedent with wider implications for Total and other international companies.

President John Magufuli has warned foreign contractors against using the Covid-19 pandemic as an excuse to delay completion of major projects. Speaking at the inauguration of a World Bank-financed road interchange in Dar es Salaam on 23 February, he commended the Chinese contractor for completing the project on time.

President Kenyatta has set up a taskforce to review the PPAs signed by monopoly distributor Kenya Power and electricity producers, in a fresh bid to renegotiate terms in favour of the struggling state-owned utility, reports Neville Otuki in Nairobi.

National Oil Corporation (NOC) successfully used a temporary declaration of force majeure at the Marsa el-Hariga export terminal to secure payment of budget arrears from the Government of National Unity (GNU). The suspension of exports for just over a week was an indication of the scratchy relationship between NOC and the new Ministry of Oil and Gas, with each side yet to test the limits of its role in the new administration.

São Tomé and Príncipe has set up formal diplomatic relations with Qatar on 4 May, with a joint communiqué signed in New York by the chargé d'affaires of São Tomé and Príncipe’s mission to the United Nations.

Weeks after his inevitable election victory, President Denis Sassou Nguesso celebrated 37 years in power by naming a new prime minister, Anatole Collinet Makosso, to head a government that includes four ministers of state, 30 ministers and two junior ministers.