In addition to producing the flagship fortnightly African Energy, AE’s team of experienced analysts also produce briefings and reports on a range of topics and issues that affect the region. Our expertise can be tapped by anyone and delivered in a range of formats. For more information contact Nick Carn. nick@africa-energy.com
AfricaHardball is an executive dialogue that brings together policy-makers, industry leaders and analysts to discuss the key political issues affecting the African energy industry in frank and open terms.
The next AfricaHardball roundtable will be held on 30 June, prior to the start of EnergyNet Ltd’s annual Africa Energy Forum (AEF), this year to be held in Bordeaux. Read more
For a decade, African Energy has been the definitive publication analysing and breaking news on the continent’s energy industries.
We hope you enjoy browsing our online information portal. Please note that some of African Energy’s content is available to subscribers only: all items preceded by a padlock symbol () require a subscription to access.
Nigeria’s push for a better deal raises IOC concerns over upstream terms
All sides are talking about building confidence, but with IOCs fearful that the landmark Petroleum Industry Bill will slash their profits, and Nigerian politicians keen to influence policy across the sector, the timetable for vital energy industry reforms is slipping ever further behind. Lack of trust over the upstream industry’s future shape is delaying investment and holding up reforms vital for gas and power sector developments, write Leonard Lawal in Lagos, Our Gulf of Guinea Correspondent in Abuja, and Jon Marks. more (opens new window)
Power financiers
The mid-decade upturn in market sentiment towards sub-Saharan Africa made 2008 mostly a good year for commercial financiers. But as African Energy’s new Power finance update shows, liquidity dried up with the credit crunch, placing a bigger burden on donors. Big players such as the World Bank Group, the African Development Bank, Germany’s KfW and the Netherlands’ FMO have stepped up with increased support, while new players such as the Libyan Investment Authority are playing a growing role. more (opens new window)
Refinery plans
Africa has no shortage of refinery projects, as African Energy’s Downstream update records. Not all will be built, but access to products seems set to improve, with big crude producers such as Angola, and non-producers such as South Africa and Mozambique, planning major projects. These include the 400,000 b/d Coega refinery, where PetroSA is looking for partners. Sonangol plans a 200,000 b/d refinery at Lobito, while Mozambique, with no oil but strategic geography, has several projects on the drawing board. more (opens new window)
Sarkozy booed as era ends in Gabon
Gabon is the last place a French president might once have expected to be booed. The hostile reception given to President Nicolas Sarkozy and his predecessor Jacques Chirac as they arrived for President Omar Bongo Ondimba’s funeral shows his death marked the end of an era.
Africa’s longest-serving leader until his death on 8 June, Bongo embodied France’s close and interdependent relationship with its former African colonies. Funding and diplomatic influence worked in both directions, and although successive French leaders declared the era of the pré carré was over, its vestiges remained strong. Bongo ruled like a traditional chief, using oil wealth to co-opt his opponents and to manage tensions at home and Gabon’s image abroad. Lately the country has been rebranding itself, setting aside 10% of its land as national parks.
Although key players such as Bongo’s advisor Samuel Dossou-Aworet remain influential, the West African oil industry, once dominated by Elf, has changed dramatically since the 1990s. Asian partners now provide fuss-free financing in exchange for raw materials. France, too, has different priorities, led by a generation who didn’t grow up with Africa’s independence-era leaders. Gabon now has a chance to move on from the colonial legacy. Small enough to do well out of oil, it may now also benefit from democracy. See AE View
African Energy Atlas 2009
Charting the continent’s energy trends
Published in December 2008, this special 32-page issue of African Energy features an updated selection of 21 of the best maps the publication has produced – and several new ones – along with a review of the continent’s energy scene in 2008 and a look ahead at 2009.
Our maps, drawn with such care by ‘journalist cartographer’ David Burles, are extensively researched by members of the African Energy team to track down often elusive information.
The maps in the second annual African Energy atlas edition show that progress has been made in creating infrastructure and bringing in investors during the last decade, but several maps also reveal just how much remains to be done before African energy infrastructure really is fit for purpose.
The maps collected together on the PDF are of high-resolution quality, allowing the reader to close in on the detail of oil fields, transmission lines, dams and other data, and providing the reader with an unrivalled digest of the projects and trends shaping the continent’s energy future.
Internet subscribers with full access to our electronic archives can download the full issue PDF or consult high-definition versions of all these maps at the African Energy map library.
Non-subscribers may purchase a special package, consisting of a high quality colour printed copy and emailed PDF file, for £72. The issue may be ordered online, or by emailing Nick Carn.
This special report and industry directory analyses the major issues influencing development of Libya's energy industries and the financial and political trends underpinning them.
Libya's Energy Future is based on African Energy’s unparalleled track record in following Libya’s energy story and careful, originally sourced reporting from Libya and global markets.
Features include:
• Analysis of Libyan government energy policy, focusing on attitudes to international companies and their contracts.
• Up-to-date reporting on exploration and development being carried out by every international company and joint venture, the challenges facing the oil and gas service sector and a forward-looking analysis of Libya’s gas potential.
• A comprehensive review of downstream investments ranging from pipeline projects through to the construction and upgrade of refineries and petrochemical installations.
• A full run-down of Gecol’s power generation, transmission and distribution projects, including analysis of the challenges facing the electricity sector.
Other features:
• Detailed listings of power projects, upstream exploration and development projects and downstream projects.
• Maps showing general infrastructure, pipelines, downstream facilities, power connections and generation plus detailed maps of the Libyan upstream basins showing exploration areas and fields.
The report also includes an analysis of the financial and political environment, and a close look at Libyan investments elsewhere in Africa.
The main report is available to subscribers as part of an African Energy subscription.
Subscribers may purchase the accompanying Libyan Energy Directory for £95.
Subscribers and non-subscribers can sign up for eMail Issue Alerts, a useful tool to keep up with what's happening in the region
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