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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.

There are pockets of progress in building infrastructure across Democratic Republic of Congo, with commercial operators and development finance institutions supporting a range of projects. But with eastern regions traumatised by violence and an uncertain election looming in December, the country remains as challenging an environment as ever, writes Jon Marks.

Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)-listed Lindian Resources has confirmed the timeframe for the expected commissioning of its Kangankunde rare earths project in Malawi. 

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).

Egyptians are hoping for cooler weather and with it the end of severe rolling power outages which have caused difficulties throughout the summer. However, the social and economic legacies of the electricity supply crisis will outlast the ferocious Mediterranean heatwave, which has provided the government’s only – but far from satisfying – explanation for why the outages happened, writes John Hamilton.

Ivanhoe Mines has opted for commercial and industrial (C&I) supply from an independent power producer (IPP) for its Platreef project in Limpopo province, becoming the latest large South African offtaker to respond in this way to the woeful performance of utility Eskom.

Nigeria’s Dangote refinery will receive its first crude cargo by the start of October and should be producing up to 370,000 b/d of diesel and jet fuel later that month, according to comments by group executive director Devakumar Edwin to S&P Global Commodity Insights published on 18 September.

Trading in Afentra’s shares resumed on 18 September, as the London AIM-listed company pushed on with plans to expand its interests in the Group Sonangol-operated shallow-water blocks 3/05 and 3/05A.

Former Lundin Energy executives denied charges of any complicity in Sudanese atrocities as their trial opened in early September, with hearings in the Stockholm District Court that fit into a growing trend for prosecutors to target companies and senior personnel for war crimes and similar outrages, no matter when they were committed, writes Chris Stephen in Stockholm.

Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines is expanding its use of hydroelectric power (HEP) wheeled across state utility Société Nationale d’Electricité (Snel)’s grid to support its mining activities in Democratic Republic of Congo’s Haut-Katanga province, which include the world-scale Kamoa-Kakula copper mine.

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

Washington has added to its support for the Lobito Corridor by backing a new spur to north-western Zambia. With Brussels now also on board, western efforts to counter Chinese influence over critical minerals are gathering pace.

The long-awaited signing of the Simandou iron ore development infrastructure agreement is a watershed moment for Conakry, which has also set in motion ambitious plans for domestic alumina processing. Both industries will require significant investment in gigawatts of energy and power capacity, write Marc Howard and a Special Correspondent in Conakry.

Once fully commissioned, the nameplate 650,000 b/d Dangote refinery complex is expected to transform the downstream sector in West Africa, but other major refinery projects are also under way in Angola and Ghana, writes James Gavin.