Africa will host the majority of new discoveries in the oil and gas sectors, a senior partner at energy intelligence firm Rystad Energy said at the start of Africa Energy Week in Cape Town earlier this week.
- In the past five years, discoveries on the continent have introduced about 300 million barrels annually.
- Uganda, for example, has an estimated 6.5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves, with 1.4 billion estimated to be viably recoverable.
- Libya, Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Sudan, Gabon, Congo, and Equatorial Guinea also all have oil reserves estimated at above 1 billion barrels each.
“We underestimate the resources Africa has. Risk is overestimated by global investors and there are little licensing activities,” Per Magnus Nysveen, Senior Partner and Head of Analysis at energy intelligence firm Rystad Energy said during a panel discussion.
Analysts estimate that as investment, and with it production, dip in the North Sea due to transition policies, 85% of growth in the sector will come from developing economies, “with Africa holding a large share.” Estimates of oil reserves tend to differ depending on the source, although they are largely within range of each other.
Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves, followed by Saudi Arabia, Iran, Canada, Iraq, Kuwait, the UAE, Russia, and Libya. Angola, Algeria also have considerable proven oil reserves at 12 billion and 7.8 billion barrels respectively. Once production kickstarts, Uganda aims to produce 230,000 barrels of crude oil daily.
“Angola has the most stable fiscal terms. The creation of enabling environments onshore in Nigeria, Libya and South Sudan can fast-track project rollouts,” Ian Cloke, COO at upstream oil and gas firm Afentra, added during the discussion.
