East Africa Set for Major Gas, Oil Transformation

By Jacinta Moran in Cape Town; Edited by Jeremy Lovell, Platts, Jul 12, 2012
Oil and gas activity has started rolling in East Africa, as drilling activity ramps up, long-awaited deals are sealed and oil companies scramble to get a slice of what could be an energy goldmine. (see related map: East Africa oil and gas resources) [or right here below

click on map to enlarge -- D.R.]

In Uganda, Tullow Oil has resolved a long-standing dispute with the government for the development of a number of oil-rich blocks, and the UK-listed explorer has also made Kenya's first ever major oil discovery.

Significant gas reserves have been found in Mozambique and Tanzania, where LNG facilities are now been planned. Drilling will kick off in Ethiopia later this year, while Madagascar is believed to hold significant reserves of gas and the Puntland region of Somalia is also showing positive signs. [Read more]

(Also, please see my posts "East African Oil & Gas" and "Third Tanzanian Gas Discovery for Ophir-BG. For gas reserves, please see "Wood Mackenzie: East Africa�s Yet-to-Find Reserves Hold 95 tcf of Gas," OffshoreEnergy Today.com, Aug 22, 2012---Recent discoveries and high profile M&A activity in Mozambique and Tanzania are attracting attention and Martin Kelly, Wood Mackenzie�s Head of Sub-Sahara Upstream Research, says the interest is justified: �100 tcf of gas has been discovered to date in East Africa and we estimate yet-to-find reserves could be as much as 80 tcf in Mozambique and 15 tcf in Tanzania. There is clearly plenty of gas to supply the likely commercialization route of LNG � theoretically enough to support up to 16 LNG trains. �The Rovuma basin is the most prolific in the region, and one of the hottest conventional gas plays in the world, with 85 tcf discovered so far. Globally in 2011, it yielded the third most hydrocarbons, and we expect it to top the list in 2012 if the first half of the year is anything to go by,�Kelly continues. Update:  East Africa may be the new hotspot for explorers but the region will first need to invest in infrastructure to develop and transport the products for domestic and international consumption. The region's regulatory and infrastructure gaps could hinder the transition from gas exploration to production in the medium term, while governments need to be more realistic about timeframes for revenue flows, delegates heard at an industry conference in London on October 2, 2012. [...] Total now expects first commercial oil in Uganda in 2017, a year later than originally expected. The French major entered Uganda's nascent industry early this year after it and China's CNOOC took a third of Tullow's assets for $2.9 billion---please see Jacinta Moran "East Africa Faces Energy Infrastructure Issue," Platts, Oct 4, 2012 -- D.R.)