Dominic Dudley

French major TotalEnergies has agreed to sell its 10% stake in the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) joint venture to the local Chappal Energies for $860m. SPDC holds 18 licences in Nigeria’s Niger Delta. It is the latest instance of a now well-established trend for international oil companies to sell assets in the country.

The award of the Angola’s Block KON 19 to local operator Acrep and partners London AIM-listed Afentra and the local Enagol has been signed off by industry regulator the Agência Nacional de Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis (ANPG).

Australia-listed Invictus Energy has announced a two-stage share placement with local institutional investors, underwritten in part by Zimbabwe’s sovereign wealth fund the Mutapa Investment Fund, to support its Cabora Bassa oil and gas project in Muzarabani, northern Zimbabwe.

Canada’s Africa Oil Corporation has acquired an option to buy a 7% stake in Impact Oil & Gas from existing shareholders, as it continues its efforts to increase its exposure to the Orange Basin.

Operator Energean and partner Chariot have reported difficulties in the recent drilling campaign on the offshore Anchois gas prospect, although some exploration work is continuing on what is Morocco’s largest uncommercialised gas discovery.

Nasdaq Stockholm-listed Tethys Oil has recommended its shareholders accept a takeover offer from Australia’s Roc Oil Company, which values the company at $186m. Tethys’s main area of operations is Oman, but it also recently signed a deal with Algerian national oil company Sonatrach covering oil and gas exploration in two areas.

Egypt Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly secured a $5bn pledge from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) in mid-September, in what Egyptian authorities described as a “first phase” of investment.

Labour minister Douglas Alexander has attacked the trade policy pursued by governments since the 2016 Brexit referendum as having a "post-imperial delusion". Alexander, who serves…

Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa) has signed an MoU with master city developer Modon Holding to look at power generation and transmission projects at the planned Ras El-Hekma urban centre on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast.

Following a hydrocarbon exploration and production agreement signed by the Somali Petroleum Authority and the Turkish Petroleum Corporation in July, a seismic research ship has now been sent from Istanbul to explore three offshore blocks in the Horn of Africa, protected by two Turkish frigates. Ankara has also signed a memorandum of understanding with São Tomé and Príncipe which could lead to similar activity there.