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Algeria’s plans for developing more solar capacity for domestic use are advanced. Although the impact of proposed projects on total installed capacity will be slight, the targets are substantial.

Israeli miner Elenilto plans to acquire a 1,400km2 3D seismic survey over its Senegal Offshore Sud Shallow Block “within the next few months”. The company said an oil resource assessment, based on reprocessed 2D seismic and wells, suggested potential of more than 1.5bn barrels of oil. “About half of the resource is in first priority leads associated with shallow-water (12-26 metres) salt domes and deeper water (1,000-1,500 metres) shelf edge traps,” the company said. Elenilto said it had selected two target areas for further exploration.

Total has announced an oil discovery with the Ivoire-1X exploration well in block CI-100 close to the disputed maritime border with Ghana. The well was drilled to a total depth of 5,044 metres and encountered 28 metres of net oil pay in a series of about 100 metres of Cretaceous reservoirs. Ivoire-1X is Total’s first well in the block and reveals that the Tano Basin petroleum system extends into CI-100.

Reports that both the government of South Sudan and nominal opposition leader Riek Machar have been in talks with Khartoum over securing control of South Sudan’s oilfields have roused fears that the already bloody fight could escalate further. Speaking at Juba airport on 6 January at the conclusion of a visit by Sudan’s President Omar Al-Bashir, Sudan’s foreign minister Ali Ahmed Karti told reporters that the two countries were “in consultations” over a proposal from the South Sudanese government for the deployment of a “mixed force to protect oilfields in South Sudan”.

UK-based miner Hummingbird Resources has signed a co-operation agreement with IFC InfraVentures and Aldwych International to develop a 20-30MW hydropower plant in south-east Liberia. The project aims to reduce operating costs for the company’s Dugbe 1 gold project as well as providing power for the surrounding region and, in particular, the town of Greenville, the Alternative Investment Market-listed company said in a stock exchange filing on 7 April.

The 150MW Zongo II dam in Kongo Central province has started supplying an initial 37MW to the grid. A formal inauguration is planned for December. The project was built by Sinohydro and financed by a $360m loan from the Export-Import Bank of China. Visiting the site on 2 September, energy and water resources minister Ingele Ifoto said the plant would significantly improve supply to Kinshasa and Kongo Central. According to a project engineer from Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel), the dam, power house and return channel are almost 100% complete.

French developer Urbasolar Group launched construction of a 30MWp solar PV plant at Pâ in the Boucle du Mouhoun region in a ceremony on 1 February. The plant is being developed as a public-private partnership between the government, Urbasolar, and local partner PPS. The plant will cover an area of 35 hectares and is expected to produce 51.7GWh/yr, supplying the towns of Pâ, Wona, Houndé, Yaramoko and Boromo. Construction is expected to take ten months.

BG Tanzania has given UAE-based Stanford Marine a time-charter contract for the Stanford Buzzard platform

Dana Petroleum has announced a “new brand identity” aimed at helping it expand in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; Eve Howell has set up a new venture with Mauritania and Mali enthusiast Max de Vietri and Colombian geologist Ricardo Garzon, named EMR Resources; Vancouver-based Simba Energy has begun trading on the US over-the-counter market’s highest tier, the OTCQX, which aims to give international companies access to US investors

Big players, including BP and Petrobras, are piling into the Namibian offshore, finding themselves in partnership with some largely unknown local partners

Operator Chariot Oil & Gas has begun a 1,700km 2D seismic survey in its offshore Central blocks 2312 & 2412A. The survey is being acquired by SeaBird Exploration. Chariot and its partners have agreed to carry out a 2D survey to infill an existing grid of data to gain a better understanding of the regional prospectivity of the licence area, which covers approximately 16,800km2. This will enable Chariot to optimise the location and size of the 3D seismic programme required as a commitment during this current phase of exploration.

Société Béninoise d’Energie Electrique (SBEE) expects to invite prequalification applications for the design, supply and installation of a 25MWp solar photovoltaic (PV) park at Illoulofin in the commune of Pobé in southern Benin by May 2018. The contract also requires assistance with the operation and maintenance of the project for a period of three years and training of SBEE staff.

Tullow Ghana has given Technip, in consortium with Subsea7, two contracts for the Tweneboa-Enyenra-Ntomme (Ten) development. The contracts have a combined value of $1.23bn, with a Technip share of about $730m. Technip’s scope of work includes the engineering, fabrication and installation of nine flexible risers, three flexible flowlines and 12 flexible spools, totalling 48km; the engineering, fabrication and installation of 33km of water injection and gas injection rigid flowlines; installation of about 63km of static and dynamic umbilicals; engineering, prefabrication, final assembly and installation of ten rigid jumpers; and delivery of a further six prefabricated rigid jumpers.


As the standoff with Khartoum continues, South Sudan is looking at alternatives for its oil. Three refinery projects are in discussion and an export pipeline to Kenya seems increasingly likely, writes Richard Nield

Equatorial Guinea plans an Energy Year in 2019, promoting the sector while marking 50 years of independence from Spain. The government plans a series of events, starting with the biennial summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum in Malabo. Mines and hydrocarbons minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima said Malabo was also aiming to host ministerial meetings of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, as well as a ministerial meeting of the African Petroleum Producers Association along with a conference and exhibition.