Taking a Holistic View of Oil & Gas Development in Africa
Stephen Thornley, Head Consultant at KBR Consulting, examines the oil & gas sector in Africa and considers the importance of sound development planning within this diverse and rapidly evolving region.
Africa’s oil and gas industry is experiencing significant shifts at every level. While the region holds vast world class natural resources, energy availability and hence consumption per capita remains low with many lacking reliable access to electricity and energy infrastructure. This paradigm makes Africa an increasingly appealing destination for international investment.
The African Energy Chamber (AEC) has predicted that upstream capital expenditure in Africa is set to reach $43 billion this year, rising to $54 billion by 2030, as the continent looks to ensure energy security and growth in the sector.
Clearly the opportunity is not uniform across the entire continent of Africa. Geographically, it comprises a land mass three times the size of Europe, so differences are inevitable in regulatory requirements, natural resource type and size, market maturity, and the physical environment itself. Each country is unique. Oil and gas markets in some areas, including Nigeria, Algeria, Angola and Libya, are extremely mature encompassing multiple producing and aging assets. While others, such as Tanzania, Namibia and Ethiopia, are predominantly in the exploration stages of identifying potential resource pools.
Targeted expertise and knowledge across the diverse geography and an understanding of the engineering needs for different project phases is therefore critical. For example, many projects in Namibia need the skills to develop opportunities from initial exploration through to concept development, while more mature asset life extension and debottlenecking skills are likely to be needed for projects in Nigeria and Angola. Using both skillsets simultaneously can add significant value by maximising the use of existing assets and infrastructure in parallel with identifying and optimising new opportunities in line with the subsurface uncertainty and the range of potential reservoir outcomes.
Key to success is understanding the opportunity frame, stakeholder alignment and portfolio priority to get it right first time.
Read on… Oil and Gas in Africa Article Jun 25
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