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BP new find on Block 31; Pazflor topsides contract for KBR; Apache find in Western Desert; Circle farms into NW Gemsa; Gulf of Suez farm-in opportunity; Rig and vessel contracts; EPSA-4 block signed by RWE Dea; Sasol awards offshore drilling contract; Block 1711 drilling

AFRICA OIL: Newcomer plans IPO on newcomer Plus market; CANDAX: Non-exec chairman; GEOGLOBAL: Egyptian block rights handed over in India play

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

Philippe Edmonds’ White Nile Ltd has signed a production-sharing agreement for a 29,000km2 block in the Southern Rift Basin. The PSA follows a two-year joint study agreement for the acreage (AE 117/10).

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.”

Stratic Energy Corporation has agreed to sell its 100% stake in the offshore Kerkouane permit for $1m in cash to Australia’s AuDAX Resources.

In addition to major state companies that have long been regarded as major Gulf investors abroad, such as Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec), a number of Kuwait-based companies have been established in recent years with aspirations to become major E&P companies by investing in Africa and other emerging frontiers.

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

Calgary-based TransGlobe Energy Corporation has agreed to acquire privately-held GHP Exploration for $40.2m to increase its stake in the West Gharib concession.

AIM-listed, Algeria-focused Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd (GKP) is heading towards first production in the South-east Constantine Basin and is also the latest company to have extended out from an African zone of interests to invest in Iraqi Kurdistan.

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 ……….