Namibia is poised to become a significant oil producer in the coming years
Letter from Paris: Africa eyes future fuelled by oil and gas
A recent industry forum highlights how developing nations see hydrocarbons very differently from some in the West
The mood at the Invest in African Energy Forum in Paris at the start of June was broadly both defiant and optimistic. On stage and on the sidelines, African oil ministers, NOC officials and private sector executives all continued to emphasise the disparity between the continent’s still-vast hydrocarbon resources and regional energy poverty, and criticised Western environmentalists for their opposition to new oil and gas developments in Africa. Ugandan lawyer Elison Karuhanga, a partner at Kampala Associated Advocates, was passionate and eloquent in his defence of Africa being allowed to develop its hydrocarbon resources. Karuhanga emphasises that 600mn Africans lack access to electricity, wh
Also in this section
13 April 2026
Petroleum Economist analysis highlights sharp shift from crude oversupply to market deficit, with Iraq and Kuwait badly affected and key producers Saudi Arabia and the UAE also seeing output sharply lower
13 April 2026
Turkmenistan is moving ahead with a modest expansion of the giant Galkynysh field to sustain gas deliveries abroad, but persistent delays to other key pipeline projects and geopolitical risks continue to constrain its export ambitions
13 April 2026
Expensive electricity has forced out swathes of energy-intensive industry and now threatens the country’s ability to attract future investment in datacentres and the digital economy
13 April 2026
For GCC producers, the ceasefire may prove more destabilising than the war itself: exports remain constrained, and control over Hormuz has shifted in ways that could endure
