African oil & energy sector fuelling global investors’ growth – DHL boss

By Etuka Sunday

The President, DHL Energy, Steve Harley has identified African oil and energy sector as aiding global investors’ growth in the region.

Harley said, while Angola and Nigeria have always been the most notable producers within the Sub-Saharan region, more recently, significant gas discoveries in Tanzania and Mozambique, has led to East Africa now receiving its share of attention from global oil companies and potential investors.

“Oil discoveries in Uganda and Kenya have also added to the excitement in the sector as new players look to enter these markets, including some of the largest independent and international oil companies, otherwise known as the super majors, who are now also witnessing the potential in this region.”

He said, in addition to the developments in East Africa, both Namibia and South Africa are also on the radar of investors within the sector.

“South Africa in particular is receiving much attention, mostly because of the potential of shale gas in the Karoo, but also because it has a long and largely unexplored coastline, off which many believe large hydrocarbon fields may exist. As a result of the region’s potential, there are several offshore drilling exploration expeditions currently being planned in South Africa by the major oil companies.”

“While exploration activity in Africa is at its highest level ever, thecontinent remains largely unexplored”, says Harley. PwC’s Africa Oil & Gas review titled From promise to performance released in June 2013, revealed that Africa currently supplies approximately 12% of the world’s oil and boasts untapped reserves estimated at 8% of the world’s proven reserves.

“With the ever-increasing need for energy in Asia and in particular China, many of these countries are positioning themselves strategically in Africa as they seek to tap into new resources to support their growing energy needs.”

“Despite the significant developments in the renewable energy sector, the world’s dependency on hydrocarbon-fuelled energy resources will continue for many years to come. According to the BP Energy Outlook 2035 report, global energy consumption is expected to rise by 41% from 2012 to 2035, and that 95% of that growth in demand is expected to come from the emerging economies.”

“Across the globe, existing and previously significant oil reserves are being depleted and so the need and desire to explore new geographies and develop new technologies to reach and extract difficult oil and gas reserves becomes ever more apparent. These new technologies are being developed at a rapid rate, which is allowing previously challenging operations and inaccessible deposits to be economically extracted and produced.”