There are indications that investors in the energy sector would pull about $1.25 trillion into Africa’s petroleum industry beweent 2001 and 2030.
A new KPMG report obtained by newsmen, which corroborated the investors’ estimate, said the continent is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies with many of them buoyed by new oil and gas finds.
There are currently 500 oil companies exploring for natural resources in the continent, considering Africa’s proven oil reserves have grown by nearly 120 percent in the past 30 years, from 57 billion barrels in 1980 to 124 billion barrels in 2012.
However, the United States (U.S.) Energy Information Administration (EIA),estimated that at least another 100 billion barrels are offshore Africa, only waiting to be discovered.
Repsol had recently announced its plans to spend $95 million drilling its first well offshore Namibia, proving that exploration in the South Atlantic Coast will ramp up in speed from exploration and production companies. The company is willing to take this risk considering that last year, 11 out of the top 20 oil and gas discoveries made in the world occurred in Africa.
Reports also showed that Cairn Energy plc commenced drilling operations last month on the Fan-1 well offshore Senegal, making it the first deepwater well drilled off the coast and only the second and third deepwater wells along the central Atlantic margin of West Africa.
In Nigeria, the National Bureau of Statistics, (NBS) recently reported that the nation’s oil and gas sector attracted foreign investment, totaling $330.757 million, (about N52.921 billion) in the last 15 months.
According to a report by the NBS, the oil and gas sector recorded total foreign investment inflow of $129.621 million in 2013 and $201.136 million in the first quarter of 2014.
The report further revealed that the Nigerian oil and gas sector attracted FDI totaling $714.258 million, about N114.281 billion between 2009 and the first quarter of 2014.
Meanwhile, Africa-focused independent energy firm Tullow Oil reported last week that the Ngamia -2 appraisal well on Block 10BB, operated by partner Africa Oil, in northern Kenya has made an oil and gas discovery.
Tullow said that the Ngamia-2 well, which was drilled around a mile from the Ngamia-1 discovery well, found 128 feet of net oil pay and 36 feet of net gas pay. The well also appears to have identified a new fault block trap north of the main Ngamia accumulation.
The firm added that the reservoirs were high quality with more than 655 feet of net reservoir sands, with good permeability inferred from sampling. The Ngamia-2 well has now been suspended for testing.
However, the Exalo 205 rig is drilling ahead of the Gardim prospect, which is located in the Chew Bahir basin in the South Omo block in Ethiopia.
Tullow Exploration Director Angus McCoss commented in a company statement: “The success of the Ngamia-2 exploratory appraisal well builds on our major basin opening discovery well, Ngamia-1.
The reservoirs were of similar quality and the well will be suspended for testing. The Agete -1 well test flowed at 500 bopd [barrels of oil per day] and the partnership continue to evaluate this discovery. With five rigs drilling in Kenya and Ethiopia, there is much to look forward to in the second half of the year.”
