VARIOUS: African oil ministers meet in Cairo, Angola likely to join world oil body as Opec meets in Nigeria

Record ID: 343639

  • Title: VARIOUS: African oil ministers meet in Cairo, Angola likely to join world oil body as Opec meets in Nigeria
  • Date: 16th December 2006
  • Summary: SUDAN (FILE - 1999)(REUTERS) OIL FIELD OIL STORAGE TANKS OIL PIPES AT THE REFINERY
  • Embargoed: 31st December 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVA526D8XUFLJ3QKQSY4XBCSGV0X
  • Story Text: African oil ministers on Thursday (December 14) met in Cairo for talks as members of the Opec oil cartel met in Nigeria to set oil quotas for member countries.
    Egypt's Oil Minister Sameh Fahmi, who addressed the first conference of oil and energy of the African Union member states, said the price of oil had become critical and it was important to in gaining access to African supplies.
    "The issue is very critical. The world now is talking about security of supplies, talking about gas pipelines, oil pipelines, talking about environment. No-one is talking about prices anymore. Maybe some countries are talking about prices because they are importing everything. This is also a dramatic situation. So we need to make sure we can find every drop of oil and every cubic foot of gas in Africa. Whenever we find it we must get it out and use it in an efficient way," he said.
    Africa accounts for only around 10 percent of world oil reserves but the continent is the focus of a feeding frenzy among energy companies that is just beginning in countries like Libya and Angola.
    Crisis in Iraq, concerns about energy nationalism in parts of South America and difficulties investing in Russia have limited exploration in those areas and kept interest in Africa bubbling.
    The rate of discovery of new oil reserves in Africa has been the fastest in the world in the past five years. Most of these new proven reserves have been found around the Gulf of Guinea.
    At an OPEC meeting in Nigeria, President Edmund Daukoru confirmed Angola would become the body's 12th member in 2007, giving the cartel even more muscle.
    "Angola saying that they are going to join so we are waiting for a formal expression of that..but I think that there is already something worked out from Angola on their intentions..I don't think they would likely make (their) intentions public," Daukoru told reporters.
    "Membership is always a good thing because there are more that are sharing the benefits as well as the responsibilities, I mean, we stand to stabilise the world markets, it means that our collective strength is enhanced, the more we are," he added.
    West Africa, mainly Angola and Nigeria, now supplies about 15 percent of U.S. oil imports, and U.S. officials project African oil could account for 25 percent of their country's crude imports by 2015.
    China has made a major push to secure oil reserves and production in Africa while national energy companies of African countries, such as gas-to-fuels producer PetroSA of South Africa, are seeking new ground outside their own borders.
    ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell, Chevron and Total lead in African oil exploration and production, which is set to grow most notably in Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.
    Smaller independent firms are also making a big push and attracting takeover bids and consolidation partners as they seek fields off the beaten track, such as along Africa's east coast.
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