Oil and Gas Exploration Will Project East Africa As New Oil and Gas Power

英国《卫报》近日报道称，受东非地区油气新贵激烈竞争的影响，尼日利亚已不是非洲油气勘探的最佳目的地。全球知名会计师事务所普华永道发布的最新非洲油气报告称，受东非新发现大量油气资源影响，一些重要的国际石油公司正将业务从非洲最大石油生产国尼日利亚撤离。荷兰皇家壳牌集团最近表示将出卖价值25亿美元的尼日利亚资产，意大利埃尼集团和法国道达尔石油公司正在出售尼日利亚的石油基础设施资产。

A recent report by The Guardian claimed that as a result of fierce competition from "nouveau riche" East Africa, Nigeria is no longer the ideal destination for oil and gas exploration.  The newest oil and gas report from global accounting firm Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) pointed out that a number of major global petroleum companies are shifting operations away from Nigeria, Africa's largest oil-producing country. Dutch Royal Shell, for example, has lately expressed its decision to sell US$2.5 billion of its assets in Nigeria, while Eni and Total have also been selling away their infrastructural assets in Nigeria.

This article is originally translated from Mandarin, click here to read the original from Chinapipe.net

According to the PwC report, global oil conglomerates have shifted their gaze towards the east coast of Africa. In the years to come, it is estimated that newly discovered fossil fuels from this area will attract billions of investment dollars yearly. Oil and gas exploration and extraction in East Africa will allow the region to become the next global power in the oil and gas industry. In 2013, among the 10 largest newly discovered oil fields in the world, 6 are situated in Africa, and 4 are situated in East Africa alone. Estimates from US Geological Survey rates potential natural gas storage in Kenyan, Tanzanian and Mozambican waters as substantially higher than that of Nigeria, currently Africa's largest natural gas producer.

Last month, Mozambique initiated a fifth round of gas and oil licensing, where it opened up 15 blocks for bidding, including three new areas of the northern Rovuma Basin. This new round of licensing is predicted to add another US$30 billion of investment in the natural gas industry. To date, around 180 trillion cubic feet of gas has been discovered in the Rovuma Basin alone, enough to supply Germany, Britain, France and Italy for 18 years.  In a recently published joint report on African oil and gas exploration by the African Development Bank and African Union, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana and South Sudan have been added as "new members" of the oil and gas community.

In recent years, in order to attract foreign investment in the oil and gas industry, East African states have enacted policies to forge a better investment climate, for example, through exchange rate rebates, investment rebates and tariff reduction etc. East African countries have been eager to speed up development in new oil and gas blocks, to the extent that they are willing to share local geological information with foreign companies. In order to overcome the bottleneck in oil refinery infrastructure, Kenya has been building oil refineries in Mombasa; Uganda has been doing likewise in its eastern regions; and Tanzania has also been constructing LNG factories and export facilities. Right now, East African countries have started working on railway, highway and pipeline networks that link the four ports of Mombasa (Kenya), Lamu (Kenya), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and Bagamoyo (Tanzania).

African Development Bank economist Santi said the newly discovered oil and gas in East Africa has challenged prevailing conditions in the African oil and gas industry. The East African boom will intensify competition in oil and gas exploration and extraction among African nations. While this adds pressure to traditional African energy powerhouses, some degree of competition will be beneficial to the future development of Africa's oil and gas market.

This article was translated by Guan Hui Lee, Staff Intern with the Asia Program at the Wilson Center.

Photo courtesy of Schristia via Flickr Commons.