Oil
Send this article to a friend
Print this page

» Clock ticking on world oil supply
» Botswana and Namibia vie to supply SA with power
» Commodities to light Africa's jets
» Oando seeks $1bn by 2008


US plants flag in Africa’s oilfields
David McKay
Posted: Fri, 21 Apr 2006

[miningmx.com] -- AMONG the most compelling reasons that Africa has tactical importance in the global search for oil is the interest the United States has in diversifying its political risk.

Following the growth in international terrorism – and tensions between the US and Middle East – the US is keen to discover alternate sources of energy. That notwithstanding the fact that the majority of the US’s future oil imports will continue to be from the Middle East states, including Saudi Arabia.

Speaking at the Africa Oil conference in Cape Town in March, Senator Rodney Ellis said the US wanted to import has much as 25% of its oil from central Africa by 2015. That was according to National Intelligence Council forecasts, Ellis said. The US currently imports about 16% of its oil from Africa.

“Africa has oil. It’s as simple as that,” said Ellis. “The UN Conference on Trade & Development estimates that Africa’s total oil reserves as 80bn barrels – 8% of the world’s crude reserves – making it an extremely appealing alternative for countries seeking to diversify their oil imports.”

There are precedents for this interest in Africa’s oil reserves. In 2002, Walter Kansteiner, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Africa, said that Africa’s oil was of national strategic interest to the US “...and it will increase and become more important as we go forward”.
Africa has oil. It’s as simple as that
Another political advantage is that none of Africa’s oil producers – apart from Nigeria, which accounts for 2,5m barrels/day – belongs to Opec. Ellis said: “While Opec is important – and will continue to be important on the world oil market – the US and other countries must diversify their oil imports for both political and economic reasons.”

Furthermore, unlike the Middle East much of West Africa’s oil is offshore, insulated from domestic political or social turmoil. “Political discord or dispute in African oil states is unlikely to take on a regional or ideological tone that would result in a joint embargo by suppliers at once,” said Robert Murphy, a US state adviser on Africa.