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Oil Production Licence (OPL) 245 is the focus of a $1.7bn claim brought by the Nigerian government against JP Morgan Chase Bank North America in London’s High Court.  What is the asset and why has it created such expensive controversy? African Energy explains.

At the heart of the Nigerian government’s $1.7bn case against JP Morgan Chase Bank North America in London’s High is the claim that JPM breached Quincecare duties when it transferred $875.7m in a pair of transfers to Nigerian bank accounts controlled by Malabu Oil and Gas in relation to the OPL 245 oil block.  African Energy explains what these duties are and what questions the court will need to answer to decide the claim.

Petroleum Agency South Africa (Pasa) chief executive Philinde Masangane has defended Royal Dutch Shell following a recent court ruling that forced the oil major to suspend a 3D seismic campaign off the Eastern Cape coast (see main article). According to Masangane, Shell and its partners have done nothing illegal and complied with the guidelines available.

A recent court ruling in South Africa halting Shell’s plans to continue with a 3D seismic campaign could force a rethink in the way operators engage with local communities, but fears that environmental campaigners’ successes could quash hydrocarbons developments appear wide of the mark, writes James Gavin

West and central Africa-focused independent PetroNor E&P’s chief executive Knut Søvold remains under investigation by the Norwegian economic crime agency, Økokrim, after being detained in a pre-Christmas swoop related to an ongoing case concerning corruption in African projects.

Victor Mapani was appointed managing director of Zambian national utility Zesco with immediate effect on 3 December, following the departure of the controversial Victor Mundende. The appointment followed the replacement of the board of directors with six new members in November.

Royal Dutch Shell faces a further legal challenge to its seismic survey off the eastern littoral – South Africa’s so-called Wild Coast – after campaigners forced a new court hearing for 17 December.

Kenya has been a significant bellwether for international investors and an example of the increasing need to invest in community engagement and avoid short cuts in environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) procedures. As one Kenyan specialist told the October 2019 AIX: Nairobi conference, a power developer could be greeted initially with a welcome dance or by herders carrying Kalashnikovs – investors needed to be suitably prepared .

The $5.1bn sale of Unilever’s tea division assets to CVC Capital Partners points to the potential for emerging markets’ commodities, but social and governance concerns persuaded other bidders to pull back. This and other examples – such as the cancelled Kinagop wind project detailed by Pierre Bertrand below – point to shifting ESG metrics that cannot be ignored by operators and investors in all sectors, writes Marc Howard

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) on 29 November said it had debarred Brussels-based Tractebel Engineering (TE Belgium) for 46 months for fraudulent and corrupt practices related to a project in Haiti in 2015-16. The decision qualifies TE Belgium for cross-debarment by the World Bank Group, African Development Bank, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other multilaterals.

Local developer Sunrise Power and Transmission Company (SPTCL) has waived a $500m arbitral award owed to it by the federal government in relation to the 3GW Mambilla hydroelectric power (HEP) plant, and has ceased arbitral proceedings.

Colonel Mamady Doumbouya’s cabinet has been presented by his regime as bringing technocrats into key positions to improve the government’s performance, but critics say ministers are either too ‘apolitical’ to enact genuine change, or compromised by past business dealings. A strong signal comes with the presidency taking direct control of major state assets from other public sector bodies, write David Slater, Jon Marks and our Special Correspondent

President Félix Tshisekedi’s efforts to revive Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)’s attraction to international oil companies (IOCs) are admirable on paper, as are his efforts to revive – and bring improved governance to – the crucial energy and mining sectors. Having broken with his alliance of convenience with ex-president Joseph Kabila, Tshisekedi’s government is looking for takers for blocks 1 and 2 in the Albertine Graben, and there is talk of a new licensing round, with plans to tender for 16 oil and three gas blocks in the onshore Atlantic basin, Cuvette Centrale and the western Rift Valley.

President Tshisekedi is seeking to make waves in upstream oil policy, just as he has in the power and mining sectors since breaking away from his alliance with Joseph Kabila. With the Kabila legacy in question over the controversial Albertine Graben fields, more legal disputes could beckon, but the government sees considerable investment upside, despite the outlook for hydrocarbons looking very different from a decade ago, writes François Misser

The Hichilema government says it wants to resolve the long-running dispute between Zesco and CEC, but the duelling companies continue to operate in parallel universes of competing claims around tariffs and arrears, while state miners’ financial shortfalls add to problems, write Dan Marks and Chiwoyu Sinyangwe.