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Tullow Oil plans a busy year of exploration and appraisal on its Ghana and Uganda discoveries, either of which could more than double the super-indie’s reserves base. Meanwhile, it has sold off its minority stake in a much-hyped field in Congo-B as it prunes its assets, writes Thalia Griffiths.

EG has become a major player in Gulf of Guinea E&P, but the next phase of its emergence as an oil and gas exporter may prove more difficult, judging from the pace at which most projects are moving.

India’s Essar Energy Overseas has agreed to buy a 50% stake in Kenya Petroleum Refineries Ltd (KPRL) from Shell Petroleum, Chevron Global and BP Africa. The government holds the other 50% equity in the 4m t/yr Mombasa refinery. The shareholders had been looking to sell up because they were reluctant to finance a planned upgrade.

Among the larger Saudi-controlled companies active in the African resources boom is Stockholm-based Svenska Petroleum, which belongs to Saudi/Ethiopian magnate Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi – one of that group of Saudi businessmen born into non-Saudi or marginal communities who have emerged as very significant players, usually by being linked to senior Saudi princes as ‘men of business’ during part, at least, of their careers.

Circle Oil and partners have failed to find oil with the Zita-1 well on the Ras Marmour permit, but have approved a location for a first well on the Grombalia permit

With the first attempt at privatisation ending in disarray and the Bureau for Private Enterprises facing reorganisation, prospects look bleak for the divestment of Nigeria’s oil refineries, seen as essential to end chronic fuel shortages. On the plus side, a number of new projects are on the table, and although by no means all will see the light of day a few are making real progress, writes Leonard Lawal in Lagos.

Following on from the state Council for Oil and Gas Affairs’ decision to back a plan by the United Arab Emirates-based Star Consortium to upgrade and revamp Libya’s largest oil refinery, another project has emerged at Ras Lanuf, promoted by Canada’s Winfield Resources Ltd. Star Consortium, formed by TransAsia Gas International and Star Petro Energy, has committed to investing $2bn over a five-year period in a joint venture with the state National Oil Corporation (NOC). Its initial focus will be on refurbishing the Ras Lanuf export refinery, whose design capacity is approximately 220,000 b/d (AE 130/16).

The Polisario Front liberation movement’s government-in-exile, the Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), plans to launch its second licensing round in Houston on 5 February

Noble Energy and its partners have announced a new gas and condensate discovery on Block I, on trend with its Belinda discovery on Block O, enabling it to raise reserves estimates by 60%. The I-4 exploration well encountered a high quality Miocene reservoir that tested at flow rates of 1,634 b/d of condensate and 28.9m ft3/d of natural gas, equivalent to some 6,450 boe/d.

Tanzania is proving a draw for Gulf companies looking to invest in Africa.

South Perth-based Cooper Energy has received formal notification that the Bargou prospecting permit in the Gulf of Hammamet has been converted to an exploration licence.

Doha-based Sphere Petroleum was launched in January 2007 as the first 100% foreign-owned company in Qatar. It was created out of the Perth-based Sphere Investments’ oil and gas assets, which were spun off. Sphere Investments – which took a secondary listing on Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) last July – is an Australian Stock Exchange-listed company with mining interests in West Africa, which has physically and financially shifted into the Gulf. Sphere Investments said “Qatar was selected as the preferred location for the new company due to the strong support from the Gulf region for our oil and gas strategy, oil and gas expertise and access to capital.”

Energy and Mines Minister Chakib Khelil has kept to his word, announcing that regulator Agence Nationale pour la Valorisation des Ressources en Hydrocarbures (Alnaft) was finally ready to launch the prequalifying stage of the long-awaited ……….

While the focus has been on China, and to a lesser extent other emerging markets investors, less attention has been paid to Gulf-based investors’ drive to acquire African assets. But this is one of the most important recent trends affecting the continent’s resources industries, and especially upstream hydrocarbons. Eleanor Gillespie has been researching these companies to establish who the big players are.

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