Page 7 - AfrOil Week 24

AfrOil PERfoRmanCE AfrOil
250 200 150 100
50
0
2008 2009 2010
Algeria
2011 2012 2013
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
African gas production
Egypt Libya
Nigeria
Other Africa
In one worrying sign of the times, Total’s bid for Anadarko Petroleum’s assets – via Occidental Petroleum – have been objected to by Algerian Minister of Energy Mohamed Arkab. Some protestors on the streets have been reported as opposing the deal and the uncertainty makes the prospect of a move towards resource nationalism much more likely.
Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria have also lost similar amounts, down 179,000 bpd and 121,000 bpd each. e scale matters, though, with this comprising nearly half of Equatoguinean out- put, while Nigeria’s production remains at 2.05 million bpd, and was actually up on 2017.
Major new investments in Nigeria have been few and far between of late, but an increasing number of indigenous producers have been working to eke more from mature fields. In addition, Total’s Egina eld began producing at the beginning of the year, suggesting output will likely continue rising in 2019.
e fall in Equatorial Guinea comes in large part as a result of no new investments for some considerable time. e Malabo government has taken steps to turn this around and a number of
wells are planned for this year – with companies facing pressure to begin work or lose licences.
turning away
Equatorial Guinea’s primary focus is now on producing gas and this resource is playing an increasingly important role for the African states. e advantages of gas over oil are many, not least in that it can be deployed to meet domestic industrial needs – in fact this is a grow- ing segment for local producers. Oil, on the other hand, can be easily exported, which provides governments with a revenue stream but o en with little direct bene ts to citizens.
BP’s review picked out the numbers for four producers, with Algeria, Egypt and Nigeria all gaining. e only exception was Libya, which has fallen from 15.1 bcm in 2008 to 9.8 bcm in 2018.
Egyptian increases have not yet fully shown up in the country numbers, when comparing 2008 to 2018. Looking at the increase from 2017, though, output has gone up 9.75 bcm. is was largely driven by the country’s o shore Zohr eld, which began producing at the end of 2017.
In the rst half of 2018, this eld produced 3.1 bcm but, by the end of the year, the total had risen to 12.2 bcm, around one h of Egypt’s output. is should continue to rise, with the aim of reaching output capacity of 27.74 bcm by the end of the year.
e increase in Nigerian gas has been little noted but is signi cant. e country has been making progress in tackling its flaring prob- lems, which has historically seen vast amounts of energy wasted in order to produce crude.
Gas export plans are increasing, with a deci- sion expected imminently on Mozambique LNG, for instance.
With oil production struggling, but local demand rising, African governments must do more to encourage additional investment. Afri- ca’s need for energy is set to eat into its exports, reducing the amount of revenues owing to the various producer states. ™
Week 24 18•June•2019 w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m P7
Bcm per year