Gabon
Post-coup, oil companies are being called to account

Gabon
Assala Energy in trouble over oil exploration

Faced with an expected fall in production this year, Assala Energy will not be able to rely on exploration wells, three of which have dried up, according to an internal company document.

Gabon
New regime prepares to pre-empt Carlyle's oil assets

Until recently, Maurel & Prom was the best-placed bidder for US investment group Carlyle's Gabonese oil interests, but the new regime in Libreville is working on an alternative all-Gabonese takeover plan.

Spotlight | Gabon
Maurel & Prom rivals hope for post-coup reallocation of Carlyle assets

The new regime in Libreville will need to give its verdict on the planned sale of Carlyle's oil assets in Gabon to Maurel & Prom. Ali Bongo's government did not formally approve the deal and some disappointed parties believe they have an opportunity to get back into the running.

Gabon
New oil minister Marcel Abéké faces foreign investor challenge

Gabon's new minister of hydrocarbons has just announced new measures aimed at improving the country's drawing power with foreign operators. Yet his efforts have had little impact on his intended audience, whose interest had already waned before the coup.

Gabon
Gagan Gupta's bid to save Arise involves tricky negotiations

On 30 September, Gabon coup leader Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema met with Indian tycoon Gagan Gupta, who is reportedly close to Noureddin Bongo, the son of fallen president Ali Bongo. But Gupta had spent several days of enforced waiting.

Gabon
General Oligui to scrutinise debts of Ali Bongo era

With the assistance of military intelligence and the BGFI bank, a new task force is to conduct an inventory of the state's debts as well as looking into transactions conducted by advisers to Noureddin Bongo.

Palace Intrigues
Denis Sassou-Nguesso, Alassane Ouattara, Félix Tshisekedi, Vincent de Paul Massassa

Intrigues big and small: every Tuesday, Africa Intelligence takes a peek into the corridors of power in Africa and beyond.

Congo Influential Julienne Johnson becomes an official adviser to her father

Ivory Coast Ouattara's former special adviser Serey-Eiffel back in Abidjan

DRC Tshisekedi's favourite luxury hotels in the Big Apple

Gabon Vincent de Paul Massassa makes a final, quick trip to oil ministry

Gabon
Perenco, Maurel & Prom and Assala remain sanguine after coup

Since the coup on 30 August, oil operators in the country have continued regardless. They are working to build relations with the new power, whose choices of oil and gas officials have been reassuringly well-known figures.

Gabon
General Oligui Nguema's government looks to balance old and new

The government installed by General Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema brings in new faces from the Gabonese expatriate community, as well as former heavyweights from the Omar Bongo era. The aim is to consolidate the authority of the country's new strong man.

Gabon
Gabon coup: oil minister Massassa questioned by intelligence services

Ali Bongo's final oil minister, Vincent de Paul Massassa, is being investigated by the Gabonese intelligence services. It's a situation that is worrying some oil operators in the country.

Gabon
Perenco hurries to sell Atora before Carlyle seals sale of its share

Franco-British oil junior Perenco wants to quickly sell its share in Atora field in Gabon for $50m, indicating it does not wish to work with the future owner of Assala Energy's majority share, which Carlyle is in the process of selling.

Gabon
Minister Massassa rattles tax stability for newcomers to Gabon oil

Oil companies wanting to invest in Gabon risk being put off by the government's new tax provisions that have gone under the radar.