African resources will bolster global energy security – analysts

The continent has the potential to provide alternative sources of oil and gas, a panelist at an ongoing conference in South Africa has said

Experts at an African energy conference have promoted the continent’s resources as a means of ensuring oil and natural gas security in the wake of a projected increase in global consumption demand in the coming decades.

African Energy Week (AEW) began on Monday in Cape Town, South Africa, and will continue through Friday. Participants include government delegations from over 20 African countries, as well as oil and gas industry experts and analysts. Rosatom, Gazprom, and the Roscongress Foundation are representing Russia.

During a ministerial roundtable on the sidelines of the five-day event, Haitham al-Ghais, the secretary-general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), estimated a 24% spike in global energy demand by 2050. This will be driven by the projected doubling of global GDP, Ghais stated, adding that the world will need alternative energy supply sources.

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He said the outlook for Africa’s oil and gas industry is positive and pledged OPEC’s commitment to working closely with stakeholders on the continent to address energy poverty.

“There is no shortage of potential in Africa. The transition is going to be multidimensional and multi-fueled,” Atul Arya, the chief energy strategist at S&P Global Commodity Insights, also stated during the conference’s opening panel on Tuesday.

“In Africa, we have seen $58 billion invested in upstream activities in 2019 and it went down to $20 billion in 2020. We hope to see it hit $58 billion in the coming years again,” he added.

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Nigeria’s minister of state for petroleum resources, Heineken Lokpobiri, also boasted of his country’s ability to increase oil output to help fight the continent’s “stark energy poverty.” More than 600 million Africans lack electricity, and over 900 million do not have access to clean cooking energy, despite the continent holding 12% of the world’s oil and 7% of its natural gas reserves, Lokpobiri noted.

“Nigeria has enormous potential. We have about 37 billion barrels of crude and 209 tcf of gas. We believe that we can produce 2.5 million barrels per day (bpd) within the next year. Today, we produce 1.7 million bpd. By addressing our decaying infrastructure, we can boost output,” he said.

Speaking at the AEW’s ‘Russia-Africa’ roundtable, Russia’s deputy energy minister, Roman Marshavin, expressed Moscow’s desire to strengthen energy cooperation with African countries.

“Russia has vast experience in creating energy facilities, and for Africa we are ready to offer projects primarily in the gas industry, nuclear energy, and hydropower,” TASS cited the official as saying.

According to the outlet, the Russian team presented a pilot project for supplying mobile gas refueling trucks to Tanzania.