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Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is back in Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC)’s sightlines, after the state giant in early September greenlit development of the country’s first floating LNG (FLNG) plant, after a lengthy delay.  NNPC has also announced that it has held talks with investors to revive the long-delayed Brass Liquefied Natural Gas and Olokola Liquefied Natural Gas (OK LNG) projects.

The contract award – along with a second, concurrent Feed deal awarded to another player – paves the way for progress at the onshore LNG megaproject, with a final investment decision now pencilled in for 2026. It has been confirmed that the project will proceed on a modular basis, with the liquefaction process powered by electricity, implying a significant power generation requirement.   There are signs that work will also formally resume on the nearby, 15.2m t/yr TotalEnergies-operated Mozambique LNG (MLNG) project later this year.

Crude oil cargoes worth some $400m have been exported from Libya by an obscure private company, in the latest sign of a breakdown of authority in the country. Blockades and force majeure stoppages at other oil facilities, along with the exile of a controversial central bank governor, threaten to plunge the country into an existential crisis. It comes as the compromises which have helped to contain civil conflicts since the fall of the Qadhafi regime look ever harder to sustain, writes John Hamilton

Siemens Energy has won a contract to provide a power generation plant for the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel at the 70,000 b/d Kaminho upstream project, 100km off the coast of Angola.

There has been renewed turbulence in South Sudan’s oil and gas sector, with the government stepping in to block a deal for London AIM-listed Savannah Energy to buy upstream assets from Malaysian national oil company Petronas for $1.25bn. It comes as South Sudan tries to resume pipeline exports of Dar Blend crude oil, which have been offline for more than six months.

West Africa Energy’s nearly-complete thermal plant at Cap des Biches will bring much-needed baseload capacity to Senelec’s network, supporting further renewable power projects. Meanwhile, the ruling Pastef party has started an audit of energy contracts awarded by the previous regime – with gas-to-power projects included in its scope, writes Waly Dione Faye in Dakar.

Malaysian national oil company Petronas is leading a pack of several international contenders eyeing up a potential investment in Senegal's 25tcf offshore Yakaar-Teranga gas development.

The nominally ‘independent candidate’ Abdelmajid Tebboune seems set for a second term when Algerians vote in the 7 September presidential election. He has promised accelerated investment in electricity and other infrastructure, a more responsive business environment and faster delivery of jobs and social services – with big new hydrocarbons deals to pay for it all.

Local downstream player Elton Oil is advancing its $120m regasification terminal project and has signed an offtake deal with Senelec to provide the utility with gas feedstock. The move could be an important step in Dakar’s move away from liquid fuels towards cheaper and less polluting gas, writes Waly Dione Faye in Dakar.

A deal has ended a three-month suspension of oil shipments from the Niger-Benin Export Pipeline, enabling the resumption of significant Nigerien production – and vital foreign exchange earnings for Niamey. Meanwhile, the Nigerien junta has appointed a new oil minister with intriguing connections and has signed a deal with Algiers to restart work at a northern oil block, writes Marc Howard with Virgile Ahissou in Cotonou.

Utility EDM is in advanced discussions with floating power plant provider Karpower for a new “up to 500MW” powership and floating regasification unit that would supply both domestic and regional Southern African Power Pool offtakers. The prospective development fits into EDM’s LNG-to-power plans, but questions remain over when feedstock from Mozambique’s onshore LNG megaprojects would be available, writes Marc Howard

The CNSP regime has triumphantly commemorated the anniversary of its ousting of President Bazoum. But the festivities merely distract from a worsening security situation that has seen major oil investor CNPC suspend work in the Agadem Rift Basin, part of a $7bn investment including a pipeline which remains idle over a dispute with Benin. Niger’s woes lay bare the folly of the chauvinistic politics advanced by the Sahel’s juntas, writes Marc Howard.

Reeling from the suspension of exports from the Niger-Benin Export Pipeline, the military regime in Niamey has sought to relaunch its mothballed NOC as an upstream player. It has also looked at reviving a tie-in to the Chad-Cameroon pipeline – an option previously rejected in favour of the NBEP, and is preparing expressions of interest for a new 100,000 b/d refinery.

The failure to expand output at China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC)’s Agadem Rift Basin (ARB) acreage and the closure of the Niger-Benin Export Pipeline (NBEP) after it had just opened are bitter blows both for the economic programme of Brigadier General Abdourahamane Tiani’s Conseil National pour la Sauvegarde de la Patrie (CNSP) junta, and for the project sponsors.

French major TotalEnergies said in late July that it was withdrawing from South Africa’s offshore Block 11B/12B block, after deciding that the two gas discoveries made there were not economically viable. PetroSA had been hoping the gas could be used to supply its shuttered 45,000 b/d Mossel Bay refinery, which it wants to bring back online.