Hunting for 'elephants' in Africa's oil sector

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2005

MAPUTO (AFP) — Africa is being eyed anew for potential "elephants" in the oil and gas sector, riding on the back of soaring oil prices, the depletion of resources elsewhere and newfound stability in many countries, experts say.

Governments on the continent are opening up and even those which had been producing oil for decades are saying that new opportunities for investment are emerging, a four-day oil and gas conference in the Mozambican capital heard last week.

"It is my feeling that there is a new shift towards Africa, with a lot of projects... especially if you look at the healthy price of oil," said Pierce Riemer, director general of the World Petroleum Council.

"Things are looking a lot more promising than they did in the past," he told AFP on the...