African competition hots up
It's a tough environment for exploration, but some countries are making headway
A near halving of the oil price since late 2014 has been accompanied by a similar-sixed fall in drilling costs. But it's going to take more than that to woo cash-strapped companies to a growing queue of African countries eager to attract investors to their frontier acreage. As the industry's growing investments in Senegal, Mozambique and Uganda have shown, what's really needed to pique interest is a major discovery. But persuading international oil companies (IOCs) to fund exploration in high-risk unproven blocks isn't easy when oil prices remain around $60 a barrel. It's telling that the first major oil or gas finds in all three of those countries were made before the oil-price crash, since
Also in this section
24 March 2026
It is an unusual story of out with the new and in with the old, as America First Refining shows the US going back to trusted energy security developments
23 March 2026
A complex and sometimes contradictory web of factors that include unpredictable oil prices, the globalisation of LNG markets, the expansion of Middle Eastern sovereign capital and the growth of datacentre demand will shape the energy landscape beyond 2026
23 March 2026
The Strait of Hormuz crisis highlights how key waterways can become global chokepoints
20 March 2026
Attacks on key oil and LNG assets across the Gulf mean a prolonged supply disruption, with damage to Qatar’s export capacity undermining confidence in the global gas system
