Africa to explore its own oil options
September 26, 2005
By Fienie Grobler
Johannesburg - Africa will consider the creation of its own oil exploration and production company at a global petroleum congress in Johannesburg this week.
"The African petroleum industry is the fastest growing in the world," Lindiwe Hendricks, the mineral and energy affairs minister, told reporters ahead of yesterday's opening of the 18th World Petroleum Congress.
She said the meeting of about 4 000 key players in the oil industry would look at "how to ensure that our [Africa's] resources are exploited to the benefit of our people.
"In the near future, Africa will come to play a pivotal role" in petroleum production, Hendricks said.
The five-day gathering is a triennial affair bringing together oil executives, governments and concerned groups to take stock of challenges facing the oil and gas industry.
Hendricks said African leaders at the meeting would "seriously discuss the possibility of a pan-African exploration and production company ... to see how we can have some control of the resources" to compete with major global oil firms.
"The proposal has been put on the agenda," she said, without giving further details.
African oil-producing countries provide 8 percent of all world oil output, with Nigeria leading the pack as the world's 12th-largest oil producer.
About 85 percent of African oil is pumped out of Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya and Nigeria, with Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tomé and Principe cited as emerging oil players.
But despite the supposed wealth coming from oil, many African countries continue to grapple with crippling poverty.
Angola and Nigeria, for instance, rank in the bottom 20 on the UN human development index for 177 countries in 2005.
Angola's oil minister, Desiderio Costa, told reporters that Angola considered a continental oil exploration company as a "good idea" but added: "For now it's just ideas. We support the idea but we need to deeply discuss what this company is going to be."
Angola recently came under scrutiny from the International Monetary Fund, which found that $700 million (R4.47 billion) a year had gone missing over several years. Meanwhile, Nigeria is trying to account for its oil earnings.
"The conference offers the continent a chance to seriously look at issues" including the "continuous poverty of oil-rich countries", said Ayanda Mjekula, the chairman of the SA National Committee.
He said Africa needed to discuss corporate governance, transparency and the impact of HIV/Aids as the continent tried to break into the world market.
"For the continent, it [the congress] is a renewed recognition of the leading role that Africa can play in the production of energy resources," a congress statement said.
The statement said delegates would debate oil prices, global warming and climate change, solutions for affordable energy and sustainable alternative fuels.
- AFP
