East Africa’s Potential Whets Energy Investors’ Appetites

Posted on : Monday , 7th December 2015

Africa’s appetite for gasoil and petrol is expected to climb by as much as 8 per cent, while demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has hit double digits. The continent’s expanding home-grown energy supply will help to satisfy some of the burgeoning demand, in a process that is creating opportunities for investors, especially in East Africa.

Africa produced 8.2 million barrels per day of crude last year, with 76 per cent coming from Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and Angola, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers. But East Africa is starting to change Africa’s energy map. Tanzania hopes to use its 55 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves to become a liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter by 2025, while Tullow and Canada’s Africa Oil have identified 600 million barrels of oil reserves in Kenya’s South Lokichar basin. Many projects are still in the exploratory stage, but investors’ appetite has strengthened East Africa’s position in the global energy arena