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Discussing progress and slippages in its major development offshore Mauritania and Senegal, BP says its Greater Tortue Ahmeyim project is focused on a ‘sustainable’ production start, rather than racing to dispatch its first LNG cargo. The British supermajor is also focused on completing phase one of the $4.8bn cross-border development prior to advancing with Phase II work, which it said would provide confidence to Dakar, Nouakchott and investors alike

Equatorial Guinea is seeing more dynamism in its upstream oil and gas sector, with independents planning drilling programmes across a number of blocks. Further phases are being planned for the Regional Gas Mega Hub project, amid renewed interest in natural gas resources, writes James Gavin.

National oil company Sonatrach has started natural gas production at three Gourar Basin fields, as part of the second phase of its South West Gas Project (SWGP).

South Africa’s EPCM Holdings has been asked to carry out technical and commercial assessments on two possible routes for piping gas from the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim (GTA) and Bir Allah offshore fields, with a view to promoting industrialisation and supplying gas-to-power projects in Mauritania.

A report that two recently acquired vessels being converted into FSRUs are destined for South Africa further bolsters the idea that the long-stalled deployment of Karpower’s floating gas-fired capacity has gained momentum, despite continued opposition from campaigners

Shell and TotalEnergies are preparing appraisal drilling campaigns in Namibia as the country continues its progress towards becoming a global production hotspot.

 Guinea has substantial reserves of bauxite, the world’s main source of aluminium, yet lags far behind in turning bauxite into alumina. African Energy understands two new refinery projects are under development –  final investment decisions are expected within two years – that will require hundreds of megawatts of power generation capacity.

President Tinubu aims to double Nigeria’s crude output by 2027, but while a series of oil and gas projects are moving forward – and should arrest the slide in production of recent years – analysts suggest the new government may find it is being overly-ambitious, writes James Gavin.

Italy’s Eni is selling its onshore exploration and production subsidiary Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC) to local conglomerate Oando, becoming the latest international major to offload non-core African assets. The deal includes stakes in the gas-fired Okpai 1 and Okpai 2 power plants, with a combined capacity of 960MW.

Indian parastatal ONGC Videsh, holder of a 16% net interest in the TotalEnergies-operated Mozambique liquified natural gas (MLNG) development, has provided an update of when it expects force majeure at the 13.1m t/yr project to be lifted.

The Greater Tortue Ahmeyim LNG and Sangomar oil projects have announced delays, which Senegalese sources told African Energy were caused by one-off external factors that should be resolved soon, while a date has been set for the Yakaar-Teranga offshore gas field’s FID.

The agreement for Senegal to become only the second African economy to secure a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) has the potential to salvage the climate financing framework’s credibility, which appeared to be flatlining.

Floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) is an emerging option for African operations – and, indeed, is being pioneered by projects on the continent – as with Nigerian National Petroleum Company’s deal with Port Harcourt-based UTM Offshore to build a 1.5m t/yr FLNG vessel to develop the Yoho field.

Following a fall in African liquefied natural gas exports in 2022, there are signs of fresh momentum in a number of large onshore and floating LNG projects in key markets including Nigeria and Mozambique, write James Gavin and African Energy staff.

The agreement for Senegal to become only the second African economy to secure a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) hinges on Dakar being allowed to push ahead with natural gas and other thermal energy projects. This will allow the government to continue with its ambitious gas-to-power (GTP) plans.