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A 12-block onshore licensing round is due in September. In the meantime, regulator ANPG and Sonangol have been reaching agreements with international energy majors and independents.

The offshore Dussafu permit is the focus of a six-well drilling campaign, as Gabon looks to address its declining oil production from maturing fields, while IOCs rationalise their assets and plan further exploration, writes James Gavin.

Australian Securities Exchange-listed Invictus Energy has established the existence of light oil, gas condensate and helium at its Cabora Bassa oil and gas exploration project in Muzarabani, in northern Zimbabwe.

Justice minister Abubakar Malami has reportedly recommended that the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) halt its legal action in the long-running saga over alleged fraud related to the sale of oil production licence (OPL) 245, saying the episode had negatively affected the economy.

The Greater Pecan offshore oil project seems revived after Africa Finance Corporation took a 50% stake in the field with its acquisition of Aker Energy, in a move that underlined AFC’s policy of supporting hydrocarbons projects with positive economic impacts even while many others have stepped back from backing oil and gas, especially upstream deals, write James Gavin and Jon Marks.

An anticipated surge in demand for electricity in the coming years – from a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) project as well as the mining sector, a new electric railway and other sources – is prompting the government to look at adding more gas-fired capacity to the grid and to push ahead with renewable energy projects, writes Marc Howard.

Savannah Energy’s dispute with Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno’s government in Ndjamena has gone cross-border, with diplomatic ties between Chad and Cameroon under stress after the London AIM-listed oil company’s new deal to sell part of its interest in the export pipeline, writes James Gavin.

Nigeria-focused, London-listed Seplat Energy said it was waiting for chief executive Roger Brown’s visa status to be resolved before he retakes the reins at the company, after the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) withdrew a case it had brought at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

Exports of crude oil from Sudan and South Sudan appear to be holding up, despite the fighting between rival Sudanese generals Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan and General Hamdan Dagalo (Hemedti).

London AIM-listed Savannah Energy said it planned to announce a series of new utility-scale renewable power projects over the course of Q2 and Q3 2023 and was moving ahead with its planned acquisition of assets in South Sudan, as it deals with the shock nationalisation of its upstream assets and export pipeline in Chad in March.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) has partnered with British major BP in a bid to buy 50% of Israel’s NewMed Energy, the largest shareholder in the Leviathan gas field offshore Israel. The deal was presented as a first step in a potentially broader eastern Mediterranean play.

QatarEnergy’s pursuit of large minority stakes in African acreage has continued with a 40% interest in Mauritania Block C-10, bought from Shell in another sign of the ambitious Gulf player’s strategy of building up a sizeable upstream footprint around the globe.

Upstream regulator Instituto Nacional de Petróleo (INP – National Petroleum Institute) is hoping to conclude technical talks soon and sign a contract with China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) for the development of offshore oil blocks in the Angoche Basin and Save province.

UK independent Savannah Energy is moving forward with a $1.25bn plan to acquire a string of upstream assets in South Sudan from Malaysia’s Petronas – a rare case of an IOC stepping into one of Africa’s most challenging political and economic environments, writes James Gavin.

Northern Ireland- and Aberdeen-based Decom Engineering said its specialist cutting technology had been deployed on an offshore Republic of Congo decommissioning project for TotalEnergies.