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The government is planning to revise the country’s oil law, with special emphasis on gas and pipeline regulations and especially cross-border provisions, vital for a landlocked state.

The ‘accidental president’ Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan was elected by an overwhelming majority in the 16 April presidential election, signalling four more years of his agenda to tackle Nigeria’s crippling lack of power supply and reform the oil and gas industry.

Rating agency Standard & Poor’s has stuck by its ‘stable’ outlook in the wake of the presidential election, viewing Nigeria’s robust balance sheet as a counterweight to its political risks.

Ghana’s transformation into an oil producer has been an uneven, sometimes politicised process. But efforts to get legislation and new institutions in place, and to normalise relations with IOC partners, are creating a more sustainable environment for all stakeholders

Acutely aware that it needs to show that a majority of Ghanaians will enjoy long-term benefits from oil, the government is looking to stipulate local content provisions in its new industry.

The publication of Algeria’s Energy Future brings data into the public domain that show how Sonatrach expects gas output to decline, adding to pressures to develop non-conventional reserves, as well as the underperforming non-hydrocarbons economy.

Continued fighting in Côte d’Ivoire’s main city underlines that, despite the dramatic capture of former president Laurent Gbagbo, the conflict is far from over. Some 16 years after he was excluded from the 1995 election, Alassane Ouattara finally gets to be president, but in the worst possible circumstances.

Both sides are seeking to keep their domestic markets supplied and structure oil deals as they seek to gain a definitive advantage in the Libyan conflict's new, internationalised phase, write John Hamilton and Jon Marks. While the international community frets about how to achieve a speedy conclusion to Libya’s civil war – with neither side able to achieve a definitive military advantage now the international campaign to introduce a no-fly zone (NFZ) and protect civilians

Prime minister Béji Caïd Essebsi has promoted a well-known technocrat to control the energy industry in his new interim government. Industry and technology minister Abdelaziz Rassaa

Protests across North Africa are being closely watched by political activists south of the Sahara, who are wondering whether a ‘domino effect’ could bring about regime change for them. After the collapse of eastern Europe in 1989, African countries saw a wave

Former UK international development secretary Clare Short has replaced Peter Eigen as chair of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). An outspoken, sometimes controversial figure, notably over her opposition to UK

Colonel Muammar Qadhafi met the ambassadors of Russia, China and India on 13 March, inviting oil companies from their countries to invest in Libya. This a clear threat that companies from countries backing the rebellion will be punished if he regains control. He made a similar proposal to the Russian and Chinese ambassadors in September 2009 after a US State Department official

The politics are complex and transport routes can be even more difficult than the governance, but European majors are increasingly drawn to Central African upstream plays, often working with Africa-based concerns. This is a response to the Great Lakes region’s exploration success, as well as to the growing volatility of the Maghreb and Middle East, write Thalia Griffiths and John Hamilton

Realisation of the seriousness of the situation in revolutionary Benghazi only struck home in the late afternoon of 15 March with conflicting reports about the possible fall of Ajdabiya. On the morning of 16 March reports came in of a government bombardment at the eastern capital’s airport and other strategic locations. As African Energy went to press, a majority of foreigners had left for the border with Egypt.

The ruling military council has named Mahmoud Latif Amer as new petroleum minister in the interim cabinet appointed after the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. Previously chairman of Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (Egas),