Leigh Elston

Africa editor[email protected]

Leigh Elston has written extensively about the global gas and LNG market for Gas Strategies, focusing particularly on UK and US energy law, the Middle Eastern gas market, energy project finance and LNG project management. Before joining Gas Strategies, Leigh reported for 18 months on the oil and gas project finance market for Infrastructure Journal.

Skeleton Coast littered by undead power projects

Namibia’s Xaris power project is ‘dead’, a source has told Interfax. But developers insist work is well under way and that the president could sign off on it within weeks.

21 October 2015
An observatory in South Africa’s Karoo Basin. By law, oil and gas explorers must prevent light pollution. (PA)

New South Africa shale regulations ‘don’t protect trade secrets’

South Africa’s shale gas regulations have a major flaw that could create environmental problems with fracking fluids, Luke Havemann, an oil and gas specialist at law firm ENS, tells Interfax.

16 October 2015
A gas flow test off Mozambique’s coast. Progress on Anadarko’s FLNG project is moving slowly. (Anadarko)

BP named as buyer for Eni’s FLNG in Mozambique

BP has agreed to offtake LNG from Eni’s Coral FLNG project in Mozambique, under a contract that offers competitively priced cargoes in return for flexibility in volumes and timing

9 October 2015

Kudu confident of 2019 startup – Nampower

After a series of setbacks, a new upstream partner has revived the prospects for Namibia’s Kudu gas-to-power project.

7 October 2015
South African power infrastructure plans.

Three ports, three solutions for South Africa’s power crisis

South Africa will launch its integrated LNG-to-power tender in Q2 2016 and will seek to import LNG into all three selected ports, the head of the IPP programme tells a conference in Cape Town.

1 October 2015
South Africa is heavily dependent on coal for power, but is looking to switch to cleaner fuels. (Eskom)

South Africa mulls gas-to-power capacity increase

South Africa may expand its gas-fired power tender beyond the initial 3.1 GW as the fuel will now be the ‘cornerstone’ of the country’s baseload supply, the country's energy minister says.

29 September 2015

Will Moz let another LNG opportunity float by?

Debate over how Coral FLNG should be structured is stymieing the project's development and may mean Mozambique will miss its chance to become Africa’s first FLNG exporter.

23 September 2015

Election campaign bodes ill for Tanzania LNG

Edward Lowassa, leader of Tanzania’s opposition coalition, has called for energy and mining agreements to be renegotiated. Now ruling party CCM may look to do the same.

16 September 2015

Tanzania’s offshore gas: what the people want

Citizens in Tanzania have unrealistic expectations of the opportunities gas development will bring, according to a mobile phone survey conducted by Twaweza.

11 September 2015
A drillship in Mozambique. The country’s onshore mega-projects could be attractive for financial backers. (Anadarko)

African FLNG first to feel finance squeeze

Non-scalable projects and projects that deliver fewer benefits to the host government are most likely to feel the pinch in today’s more conservative lending environment.

10 September 2015
South African President Jacob Zuma at the BRICS meeting in Ufa in July. (BRICS)

Shale faces long road in SA – regulatory official

South Africa has published shale gas regulations, but it will be at least three years until companies start fracking and, until then, Karoo’s real resource potential is unknown.

9 September 2015
President Jakaya Kikwete signed the three new acts into law at the beginning of August. (PA)

Tanzania still waiting on content of crucial oil laws

More than a month after President Kikwete signed crucial new oil and gas legislation into law, investors are still waiting to see the final content of the acts.

8 September 2015
President Muhammadu Buhari’s intentions will be clearer when he makes key cabinet appointments. (PA)

Reform alone cannot fix Nigeria’s gas infra void

President Buhari has not appeared to welcome the private sector in the past, but this attitude will need to change if he is to kickstart Nigeria’s gas revolution.

4 September 2015
TANESCO’s Ubungo power plant, operated by Globeleq and Songas. (Songas)

TANESCO’s gas-fired future

Decklan Mhaiki, deputy managing director of Tanzania Electric Supply Co., tells Interfax about the utility’s plans for increasing its gas-fired power generation capacity.

2 September 2015
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. He has pledged to restructure the country’s energy sector. (PA)

Quick gas wins could help Buhari win the oil war

Reforming Nigerian Gas Co. into a transparent, efficient body able to attract private investment into Nigeria’s midstream could be a quick win for President Buhari.

1 September 2015

Foreign labour red tape could delay Moz LNG projects

Mozambique’s decree law will allow the import of expats beyond the usual legal quotas, but inconsistent application of the law threatens LNG projects.

26 August 2015
Drilling work off the Tanzanian coast. The country is reforming its upstream sector. (AP/Statoil)

Can Tanzania avoid the dreaded resource curse?

Ambitious goals for good governance are not enough for emerging oil and gas producers such as Tanzania to avoid the ‘resource curse’, the latest report by Chatham House argues.

24 August 2015
The Atuabo gas plant has just reached full capacity, with additional supplies due in time. (Ghana Gas)

Ghana readies for major ECG restructure

After 20 years deliberating the privatisation of Ghana’s main electricity distributor, the sector may now be on the cusp of major reform

19 August 2015
Anadarko will make an FID on its LNG project soon. (Anadarko)

Moz players left guessing after shock state oil reshuffle

As Eni and Anadarko gear up for FID on their Mozambique LNG projects, the industry is still in the dark about what new roles President Filipe Nyusi has in mind for two top petroleum officials.

13 August 2015
Ghana is hoping to build more gas-fired power capacity. (GridCo)

Tariff hike needed to coax more IPPs into Ghana

Ghana will need to revise its electricity pricing if it is to lure private investors into building new gas-fired power capacity, according to a new report from the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.

12 August 2015

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