Current Status, Prospects and Investment Directions of Oil and Gas Exploration and Development in Africa

Based on commercial databases such as S&P Global and the International Energy Agency (IEA), as well as public information from international oil companies like BP, this study systematically analyzes and researches the distribution characteristics of oil and gas resources in Africa, oil and gas discoveries, future exploration and development potential, and the current status and trends of oil and gas investment, so as to clarify the future exploration and development prospects and oil and gas investment directions in Africa. The study shows follows. (1) Africa is rich in oil and gas resources, but the exploration degree and oil and gas discoveries are uneven. Geographically, North Africa and West Africa have a high degree of oil and gas exploration, large discovered reserves, and are traditional oil-producing powers. East Africa and South Africa have a low exploration degree and small discovered reserves, but they are emerging hotspots for natural gas exploration. Geologically, passive continental margin basins are the most oil and gas-enriched, accounting for 62%, followed by rift basins and craton basins. (2) Africa has great potential for oil and gas exploration and development. The reserve-production ratio of discovered resources is high, and the medium- and long-term development potential is favorable. There are many remaining prospects with undiscovered resources, showing great potential for future exploration and development.Among them, the remaining prospect resources in offshore areas account for 82.5%, making them the focus of future exploration. (3) Driven by the strong growth of global oil and gas investment, Africa's oil and gas investment has recovered rapidly after the pandemic, and oil and gas production has rebounded rapidly. In particular, natural gas production has exceeded the pre-pandemic level, and Africa has become an important source of oil and gas imports for Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. (4) With the increasing demand for natural gas due to energy transition, natural gas will gradually surpass oil to become the main body of Africa's future oil and gas composition and an important investment target. Africa's marine areas, especially deepwater exploration, have huge potential and represent a realistic field for obtaining large-scale discoveries and investment. Unconventional resources in Africa have great potential, but they require high technology and costs, making them potential fields for large-scale reserve addition and investment in mature basins in the future.