PennEnergy: IHS: East Africa aspires to become new world-class oil and gas player

East Africa is undergoing a major transformation to become a new world-class player on the energy market. By 2025, East Africa is expected to experience an incremental production growth of nearly 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), led by Mozambique and Tanzania.

With the highest number of gas discoveries between 2010-2013 in East Africa, accounting for more than 25 percent of added reserves worldwide --and as the largest contributor, with over 50 percent of total regional M&A (mergers and acquisitions) value in 2013 - the region comes to the fore of international openness to investment, boosting its attractiveness and competitiveness, according to new analysis from IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS), the leading global source of critical information and insight.

Despite the high potential for further growth, East Africa has suffered major setbacks with lack of local infrastructure in place, institutional capacities, regulatory framework and an adverse geo-political situation overall.

“East Africa is the new hot spot”, said Stanislas Drochon, director Africa oil & gas at IHS Energy. “The region is going through a major transformation and it has huge potential to play a crucial role in driving the region’s future growth, while still operating in risky business environment where the regulatory framework and infrastructure are not in place.”
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