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Genser Energy Ghana Ltd announced in December that it had reached financial close on a $366m financing agreement that will fund the expansion of its business in Ghana. The transaction funds the expansion of existing plants and the company’s gas pipeline network, as well as new projects that have signed power purchase agreements.The package comprises a $230m syndicated loan alongside a mezzanine loan and preference shares. South Africa’s Standard Bank and Nedbank, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and existing lender Barak Fund SPC Ltd financed the senior loan.

Major production contracts that NOC has renegotiated with three of its major international partners over the past year have opened the door to the first EOR projects in veteran fields, writes John Hamilton, recently in Vienna.

Sonatrach president director-general Amine Mazouzi is launching a reorganisation of the corporation’s management structures with the objective of increasing the level of production and reserves, and also of uniting petrochemicals and refining in the downstream sector. A board meeting in early October approved the changes, which will be introduced in the medium term. They include the creation of ‘business development’ and ‘research and development’ general directorates and an internal restructuring to restore important elements previously separated from the upstream and downstream divisions.

ADDAX: Onshore Nigeria find; PROSAFE: Drilling FPSO heads for Murphy’s CONGO-B field; ROC OIL/MAREX: Mozambique Channel block; PERENCO: Gabon find

The contagion effect of the financial crisis, piracy and Islamic extremism is contributing to the escalating conflict in Somalia, which until recently centred on the Mogadishu area, but has now spread to other regions.

The African Development Bank board approved on 9 October €138m ($155m) of financing to Société Tunisienne d’Electricité et Gaz (Steg) for a transmission project. The package includes a €108m loan from the AfDB and €30m from the Fund for Agriculture in Africa. The €290m project is also being funded by the Islamic Development Bank (€121m) and Steg (€31m). The project will fund the purchase of high and medium-voltage transformers and construction of around 250km of transmission lines to support the development of renewable power projects in the country.

Algeria’s council of ministers has approved the sale of an 18.375% interest in the Isarene production-sharing contract (PSC) to Enel Trade SpA (Enel); Doris Engineering has given UK-based Jee a contract for specialist subsea and riser engineering for the deep-water Kaombo pipeline system on Total’s Block 32; Operator SOCO International has encountered non-commercial hydrocarbons in the Makouala Marine-1 exploration well on the Marine XIV licence; Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) has extended the deadline for its licensing round to 29 March; Golden Crescent Investments, a Citadel Capital opportunity-specific fund, has agreed to sell its interest in National Petroleum Company Egypt Limited (NPC Egypt) to Canada’s Sea Dragon Energy; Hess has issued a letter of award to Seadrill to enter into an eight-well drilling contract for the semi-tender rig West Esperanza; Australia’s Tangiers Petroleum plans to list on London’s Alternative Investment Market on 3 February and has begun a 677km2 3D seismic acquisition programme in its offshore Tarfaya Block; Circle Oil has completed the construction phase of the new Sebou-Kenitra 8-inch pipeline; TVI Pacific has opted not to take part in the second exploration phase for the Tenere Block with China National Petroleum Corporation; PA Resources has sold its stakes in the Ezzaouia and El Bibane oil-producing fields to Candax Energy for $4m

BG Group has resumed exploration drilling offshore Tanzania using the Deep Sea Metro 1 drillship. Partner Ophir Energy said the multi-well programme would start with appraisal and satellite exploration around the Jodari field in Block 1.

ExxonMobil has secured an extension of its Doba Basin licence until 2050 after settling a dispute over royalties that saw a court in N’djamena fine the company and its consortium partner Petronas $76bn in October last year.A signing ceremony was held at the Hilton hotel in N’djamena on 9 June. There was no immediate word on whether the agreement included a financial settlement and, if so, how much was paid.

Rwanda Energy Group says the Gishoma peat plant is producing power in a testing phase before commercial operation. Chief executive Jean-Bosco Mugiraneza told a news conference on 29 June the plant, whose main offtaker is the Cimerwa cement plant at Bugarama, was generating 10.85MW.

Kenya has launched a range of measures aimed at tackling the barriers to the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as a domestic fuel and phasing out the use of kerosene. In the 2016-2017 national budget, presented to parliament on 8 June, the government allocated KSh2bn ($20m) for initiatives aimed at expanding LPG use and restored excise duty on kerosene at Sh7,205 per 1,000 litres. Profiting from the difference in the price of kerosene and diesel of about KSh20 per litre, unscrupulous operators dilute diesel with kerosene for sale to consumers.

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

Two months after the fall of the Qadhafi regime, security at installations and oil fields is still the main barrier preventing international companies from returning to the country, writes John Hamilton. Libya has a new government and NATO has completed its operations, but international oil companies (IOCs) remain reticent about returning to the country. Many country managers at the North African Oil and Gas Summit

Total’s purchase of Marathon Oil’s share in the Waha oil concession may yet be pre-empted by National Oil Corporation (NOC), which is under pressure to step in under identical terms. The Waha employees’ union has rejected the deal, as has the energy committee of the Tobruk-based House of Representatives – Libya’s official legislature.

The Kenyan government is reviewing a design and feasibility study for a crude export pipeline carried out by Japan’s Toyota Tsusho. A senior oil company source told African Energy the report had been submitted to the government in early May and was undergoing internal review. The source’s company had yet to see the document. Toyota Tsusho won a contract to carry out feasibility studies and front end engineering design for the pipeline in November 2014. Once completed, the 1,300km project will be the longest heated pipeline in the world – East African crude is quite viscous so needs heating in order to flow – with a substantial portion below ground.