Africa's upstream investment terms fail to impress
The region will have to offer much more attractive investment terms to lure operators to its upstream
Put a group of oil company bosses in a room together at virtually any time in the industry's history and they will complain about investment terms or the regulatory environment in the countries they operate. Nowhere is this more evident than in sub-Saharan Africa. The continent is relatively under-explored with huge hydrocarbons potential but has struggled to attract funding as firms globally slashed upstream capital spending. Paul McDade, chief executive of Africa-focused Tullow Oil, told the Africa Oil Week conference in Cape Town that exploration licence terms must be competitive to attract new investors to the region's upstream. "This means governments and regulators being bold and flexi
Also in this section
25 April 2024
Some companies with assets in Israel have turned towards Egypt as tensions escalate, but others are holding firm despite rising tensions
24 April 2024
But even planned exploration activity is unlikely to reverse declining output from mature fields
23 April 2024
Cheaper Russian barrels and lower overall crude prices have helped cut key oil consumer’s import bills in election year
22 April 2024
Pursuing three different goals as part of the same package may mean achieving none of them