Africa Oil and Gas
Africa is all set to become a global energy powerhouse with a plethora of untapped resources. Africa alone has produced about 8% of the total oil produced in the world. There has been a massive spike in the number of oil and gas projects undertaken in Africa, which will completely change the economy and status of the African oil production market on a global scale. Here are some of the major ongoing and upcoming oil and gas projects in Africa.
Ghana Petroleum Hub
The Ghana Petroleum Hub, a massive project overseen by the Ghanian President Nana Akufo-Addo, costs approximately $60 billion and is located in Bonyere, the Western region of Ghana. The project will utilize 20,000 acres of land and comprise four refineries, five petrochemical plants, industrial infrastructure, and 10 million cubic meters of storage capacity. Each of the refineries will process 150,000 barrels per day. The development began in 2020, intending to hold up Ghana’s socio-economic prospects. The hub will aim at meeting regional demands, creating a local job market, and accelerating intra-African trade.
Tanzania LNG Liquefaction Plant
This $30 billion Liquefied Natural Gas Liquefaction project is in Tanzania, and its construction will begin in 2023. The Tanzania LNG project, also known as the Likong’-o-Mchinga LNG project, is led by Shell and is aimed to be completed by 2028. The project will have the capacity to produce 10 million tons of LNG per year, rendering it the status of the first megaproject in Tanzania. The project will comprise five trains, each capable of producing five million tons of LNG per year.
It will be built in Lindi in the southern part of Tanzania. LNG tankers will export the Block 2 LNG production (approximately 7.5 million tons per annum) to international markets. About ten percent of the gas arriving in Lindi will be for domestic markets, and this portion can produce 8TWh of yearly electricity. With more than 30 years of production, this particular project will prove to be a substantial contributing factor to the growth of Tanzania’s economy.
Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline
The Nigerian-Morocco gas pipeline is a project undertaken in partnership between the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and Algeria’s Sonatrach, holding 90 percent of the shares, and the Niger National Oil Company holding 10 percent. It will be a game-changer in terms of diversification of the gas industry and strengthening relationships between neighboring countries. The net worth of the project is a massive $25,000 million, and the project will have an estimated annual capacity of 30 billion cubic metres of natural gas.
This gas pipeline will be 5,600 kilometres long and an extension to the existing West African Gas Pipeline, which runs from Lagos in Nigeria, Cotonou in Benin, Lomé in Togo, and Tema and Takoradi in Ghana. The Nigeria-Morocco Gas Pipeline will extend to Abidjan in Ivory Coast, Monrovia in Liberia, Freetown in Sierra Leone, Conakry in Guinea, Bissau in Guinea-Bissau, Banjul in The Gambia, Dakar in Senegal, Nouakchott in Mauritania, Tangiers in Morocco, and Cádiz in Spain.
The Nigeria-Morocco gas pipeline will stretch 1,037 km from Nigeria to the Niger border, 841 km from Niger to Algeria, 2,303 km across Algeria, and 220 km from Algeria to Spain. The project will commence in the Warri region in Nigeria and carry on to the north through Niger to Hassi R’Mel in Algeria. There it will connect with the existing Trans-Mediterranean, Maghreb-Europe, Medgaz, and Galsi pipelines.
Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline
Trans-Sahara Gas Pipeline, also known as the Nigeria-Algeria gas pipeline, is a 4,401 kilometres long project that will stretch from Nigeria to Algeria via Niger and Algeria to Spain. Although initially proposed in 1970, little to no progress was made over the next five decades. In 2019, the pipeline began to appear in planning documents. The project will start in the Warri region in Nigeria and run north through Niger to Hassi R’Mel in Algeria. There it will connect with the existing Trans-Mediterranean, Maghreb-Europe, Medgaz, and Galsi pipelines. The net expense is about $13 billion, and it will have a capacity of 30 billion cubic meters of petroleum gas every year.
Richards Bay Refinery
It is located near Richards in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. This upcoming project is an initiative by The Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (SOC) and will be operational by 2028. It is a result of South Africa and Saudi Arabia’s joint investment, whereby Saudi Aramco proposed an investment of $10 billion in the refining complex at Richards Bay. The country’s Central Energy Fund (CEF) and Saudi Aramco have concluded a non-disclosure agreement, and therefore, not a lot is known about the project. However, it is speculated that the crude distillation unit will process 300 million barrels per day.
Between 2021 and 2025, an estimated 428 oil and gas projects will be completed on the continent.
ABiQ tracks over $960 Billion of ongoing and upcoming oil and gas projects in the Middle East and Africa. Get in touch with us to find more about these projects.
Read more about projects in Africa and the Middle East here.