Africa Oil Week virtual meeting held today
The two-day Africa Oil Week (AOW) virtual conference will begin today, after the official AOW was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The AOW provides an annual forum for oil and gas operators to solicit investment opportunities from governments, service providers and industrialists. Libya’s resumption of oil production is likely to feature as a point of concern, while new digital technologies—the development of which have been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic—will be exhibited for emerging African energy producers.
The US is expected to continue heavily investing via its Prosper Africa initiative to secure a foothold in the continent’s energy future, having already approved a $5 billion loan for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Mozambique. Renewable energy projects are still seen as a long-term goal for Africa with short-term strategies likely to centre on optimising Africa’s immense gas reserves to drive its push for universal energy access. Although capital investment in oil has dropped due to depressed global prices, Africa may prove the final frontier with many power-intensive development projects potentially directing demand—the reorientation to LNG and hydrogen is likely to spearhead this restructuring.
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