Yes, it will take a while to bring production on line, but more diversified suppliers will weaken the power of big producers like Russia and Iran.
Ethiopia discovers new oil deposits[Garowe] Æthiopia has discovered new oil deposits which if explored would tremendously change the economy of the Horn of Africa nation which has lately been struggling with internal conflicts and civil war in the northern state of Tigray.
Tekele Uma Banti, the Minister of Mines and Petroleum, confirmed the news on Wednesday, noting that exploration will begin immediately to the benefit of the people of Æthiopia. Æthiopia is a landlocked nation that solely depends on oil imports from the Middle East and other parts of Africa.
A study conducted in Warra IIuu within Abay Basin, he said, shows that the country has more than 2 billion barrels of crude oil. This, he noted, would help the country reduce foreign imports besides increasing employment opportunities for thousands of struggling people in the country.
"Oil exploration is being conducted in 5 basins throughout Æthiopia. In an oil exploration study conducted in Warra Iluu, part of the Abay basin, the study showed that there are more than 2 billion barrels of crude oil," the minister said in a tweet after meeting several stakeholders.
"The government is working on utilizing the crude oil resources discovered, to ensure the prosperity of the nation," added the minister, who is a staunch supporter of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, an engineer who has struggled to contain growing rebellion in the country, that has left thousands of people dead.
Should the country kickstart exploration, it means Æthiopia will be one of the biggest oil-producing nations in East Africa and the entire Horn of Africa, which heavily relies on foreign imports which come mainly from the Middle East and northern part of Africa.
Æthiopia will join the league of South Sudan which has the rich potential of oil but has not been fully explored due to the civil war that has lasted for decades. It was anticipated that South Sudan would be able to serve the entire region, which has a significant shortage of petroleum products.
US and Canada firms win a new gas exploration in DR Congo
[Garowe] In a bid to expand energy access and strengthen international partnerships, the Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
(DRC) has awarded licenses for the exploration of three natural gas blocks in Lake Kivu to companies from the United States and Canada.
The country’s Hydrocarbons Ministry announced that US-based developer Symbion Power’s local subsidiary, RED, will be taking on the Makelele oil block, while the Idjwi block has been granted to another American company, Winds Exploration and Production LLC.
While the Canada-based Alfajiri Energy will be responsible for the Lwandjofu block. The awarding of these licenses is part of a larger licensing round that includes 27 onshore oil blocks, some of which are located in the Congo’s rainforest and peatlands, raising concerns about potential environmental impacts.
The development aligns with the DRC’s goal to grow its energy access from 10% of the population to 32% by 2030. The DRC hopes to tap into the vast amounts of methane underneath Lake Kivu to generate electricity, similar to its neighbor Rwanda.
The lake is estimated to hold enough methane to produce 700 Megawatts of electricity in the next 50 years, and it is projected that production could begin as early as 2024.
Production-sharing contracts are set to be signed within the next 15 days, marking a significant step forward in the DRC’s relationship with the United States and Canada in the energy sector.