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Italian major Eni has achieved a time-to-market of under two years, with first production announced from its Baleine (Whale) field, offshore Côte d’Ivoire (CdI). The project has been presented as the first emissions-free Scope-1 and -2 upstream production project in Africa, as well as CdI’s largest ever hydrocarbons discovery.

The coup d’état in Niger appears to be undermining oil and gas sector ambitions in neighbouring Benin, with London Stock Exchange-listed independent Zenith Energy citing regional political instability as a reason for pulling out of talks for a production-sharing contract to resume output from Block 1 and potential delays anticipated to the $7bn Niger-Benin export pipeline (NBEP), which was due to be completed this year.

Tullow said it would add about 5m barrels of net 2P reserves under a new agreement with Libreville to extend several of its licences in Gabon.

Most big oil companies reported a sharp falls in profits in Q2 2023, but Africa still figures prominently in results and future plans – and where it doesn’t majors are able to divest at least some of their more attractive assets.

The Egyptian government has approved ExxonMobil’s exploration agreements with Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas) for the Cairo Offshore and Masry Offshore blocks, which are the most northern areas to be licensed in Egypt to date.

NOC Libya’s domestic drilling subsidiary National Oil Well Drilling and Maintenance Company has outsourced an entire drilling operation to an international provider for the first time.

French major TotalEnergies has started drilling at the Tilenga oilfield – a key part of the wider Lake Albert project in Uganda – while facing down fresh criticism over the Eacop export pipeline to Tanzania.

South Sudan is facing a dilemma about how it keeps its oil and gas flowing at a time when its export route via Sudan is at risk from a conflict  that has fanned out well beyond Khartoum.

The conviction by a Tripoli criminal court of former National Oil Corporation (NOC) international marketing department (IMD) chief Imad Ben Rajab on charges of importing off-spec or adulterated gasoline in oil-for-fuel swaps has exposed one of the many ways in which corrupt actors have used the oil trade to extract hundreds of millions of dollars from the Libyan state.

A $7bn budget allocation made last year to National Oil Corporation was intended to boost crude output, but no new projects have yet been launched, prompting questions over the lack of oversight at NOC, in a state already hollowed out by smuggling, corruption and theft. It comes amid signs that Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Al-Dabaiba and rival warlord Khalifa Haftar are taking greater control over oil revenues, raising further questions for IOCs who are wondering whether to reinvest, writes John Hamilton.

Afentra has announced a deal with the BP/Eni Azule Energy joint venture that will increase the London AIX-listed independent’s shallow-water interests in Angola, as it acquires a further 12% of Block 3/05 and up to 16% of Block 3/05A for $48.5m and further payments of up to $36m subject to oil price, production and development conditions.

Banjul is hoping enthusiasm over exploration and production (E&P) developments in the so-called Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea (MSGBC) Basin – in particularly the neighbouring Senegalese offshore – will pique interest in Gambia’s potential as an oil and gas play.

Woodside Energy has suffered a setback at the 100,000 b/d, estimated 563m bbl reserves Sangomar offshore oil and gas field. The Australian independent has announced a revised timeframe for the project to achieve first oil plus increased costs for the phase one development.

Toronto- and Stockholm-listed Africa Oil Corporation has increased its stake in Block 3B/4B, pointing to heightened interest in South Africa’s portion of the Orange Basin and the Canadian company’s efforts to emerge as a major E&P play in a region where the Venus and Graff finds off Namibia have aroused ever more excitement.

Paris-based independent Perenco has signed a production-sharing contract (PSC) for the offshore Rio del Rey Basin and says it expects progress on approval of its acquisition of New Age’s interest in the Etinde gas field project.