Top 12 Proven Oil Reserves Holders in Africa, Jan 1, 2013 -- OGJ

by David Rachovich

Estimated Proved Oil Reserves

Rank	Country	Proved reserves (billion barrels), Jan 1, 2013	Proved reserves (billion  barrels), Jan 1, 2012	Share of total Africa, Jan 1, 2013
1.	Libya^	48.0	47.1	37.6%
2.	Nigeria^	37.2	37.2	29.2%
3.	Algeria^	12.2	12.2	9.6%
4.	Angola^	10.5	9.5	8.2%
5.	Sudan*	5.0	5.0	3.9%
6.	Egypt	4.4	4.4	3.4%
7.	Uganda	2.5	1.0	2.0%
8.	Gabon	2.0	2.0	1.6%
9.	Congo (Brazzaville)	1.6	1.6	1.3%
10.	Chad	1.5	1.5	1.2%
11.	Equatorial Guinea	1.1	1.1	0.9%
12.	Ghana	0.66	0.66	0.5%
Total Africa~		127.6	124.2	100.0
World total		1,637.9	1,520.1#
Total OPEC**		1,204.7	1,112.9

Notes: Where possible, OGJ uses data from its surveys and published official estimates. Most reserves estimates come from governments. Proved/proven oil reserves - generally taken to be those quantities that geological and engineering information indicates with reasonable certainty can be recovered in the future from known reservoirs under existing economic and operating conditions.

^OPEC member.

*Sudan and South Sudan (or officially the Republic of South Sudan) – D.R. Most of Sudan's oil is produced in the South, but the pipeline, refining and export infrastructure is in the North of the country. The majority of reserves are located in the oil-rich Muglad and Melut Basins. Oil produced in these basins and nearby fields is transported through two main pipelines that stretch from the landlocked South to Port Sudan. Sudan has three refineries located in Khartoum, Port Sudan, and El-Obeid; with total refinery capacity just under 122,000 barrels per cal day---please see:  EIA, Sudan and South Sudan analysis, March 19, 2012. – D.R.
 

~Including other countries.

**OPEC has a total of 12 member countries: Algeria, Angola, Ecuador, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Venezuela.

#Revised figure – D.R.

Source: "Worldwide Look at Reserves and Production [Table]," Oil & Gas Journal, Dec, 2012.

East Africa Set for Major Gas, Oil Transformation

By Jacinta Moran in Cape Town; Edited by Jeremy Lovell, Platts, Jul 12, 2012
Oil and gas activity has started rolling in East Africa, as drilling activity ramps up, long-awaited deals are sealed and oil companies scramble to get a slice of what could be an energy goldmine. (see related map: East Africa oil and gas resources) [or right here below

click on map to enlarge -- D.R.]

In Uganda, Tullow Oil has resolved a long-standing dispute with the government for the development of a number of oil-rich blocks, and the UK-listed explorer has also made Kenya's first ever major oil discovery.

Significant gas reserves have been found in Mozambique and Tanzania, where LNG facilities are now been planned. Drilling will kick off in Ethiopia later this year, while Madagascar is believed to hold significant reserves of gas and the Puntland region of Somalia is also showing positive signs. [Read more]

(Also, please see my posts "East African Oil & Gas" and "Third Tanzanian Gas Discovery for Ophir-BG. For gas reserves, please see "Wood Mackenzie: East Africa’s Yet-to-Find Reserves Hold 95 tcf of Gas," OffshoreEnergy Today.com, Aug 22, 2012---Recent discoveries and high profile M&A activity in Mozambique and Tanzania are attracting attention and Martin Kelly, Wood Mackenzie’s Head of Sub-Sahara Upstream Research, says the interest is justified: “100 tcf of gas has been discovered to date in East Africa and we estimate yet-to-find reserves could be as much as 80 tcf in Mozambique and 15 tcf in Tanzania. There is clearly plenty of gas to supply the likely commercialization route of LNG – theoretically enough to support up to 16 LNG trains. “The Rovuma basin is the most prolific in the region, and one of the hottest conventional gas plays in the world, with 85 tcf discovered so far. Globally in 2011, it yielded the third most hydrocarbons, and we expect it to top the list in 2012 if the first half of the year is anything to go by,” Kelly continues. Update:  East Africa may be the new hotspot for explorers but the region will first need to invest in infrastructure to develop and transport the products for domestic and international consumption. The region's regulatory and infrastructure gaps could hinder the transition from gas exploration to production in the medium term, while governments need to be more realistic about timeframes for revenue flows, delegates heard at an industry conference in London on October 2, 2012. [...] Total now expects first commercial oil in Uganda in 2017, a year later than originally expected. The French major entered Uganda's nascent industry early this year after it and China's CNOOC took a third of Tullow's assets for $2.9 billion---please see Jacinta Moran "East Africa Faces Energy Infrastructure Issue," Platts, Oct 4, 2012 -- D.R.)
 

World Watch [East African Oil & Gas]

by Peter Kemp, EI
East Africa is a hot frontier and a top investment story for 2011. The talk is of big gas finds offshore Mozambique and Tanzania, which is launching a new deepwater licensing round. BG Group is angling for blocks off Kenya, and explorers are excited by the first signs of elusive oil offshore as well. But landlocked Uganda, where the first oil in East Africa was discovered barely five years ago, is rattling investors. With reserve estimates at 2.5 billion barrels [please see below] and counting, the country's potential is huge. Yet exploration has stalled. Disputes have arisen over taxes, seized licenses and conflicting views on the pace and shape of development. ... The government [recently] outlined plans for a domestic refinery that it considers to be a higher priority and more profitable than crude oil exports. Unsurprisingly, incumbent explorers are dismayed that their export plans may not get the green light. As Tullow Oil's sunny optimism fades amid the endless discussions, the patience of the prospective incomers, Total and China's CNOOC, is also being put to the test.

(So far, one billion barrels of oil reserves have been confirmed in a quarter of the Albertine Graben of Uganda, a figure that is projected to reach 2.5 billion. Uganda is included in the OGJ's latest annual survey of world oil & gas reserves---see OGJ, Dec 6, 2010---for the first time with 1 billion bbl of proved oil reserves and 500 bcf of gas reserves. Britain's Tullow Oil PLC reports another 1.5 billion bbl in prospective resources in the East African nation in addition to these totals. Uganda does not yet have any oil or gas production. In contrast, new oil province in West African Ghana, being developed by Tullow and its partners, has already begun to bear fruit. 15 December 2010 celebrated the delivery of First Oil from the offshore Jubilee field---please see my post here. -- D.R.)