Yemisi Izuora/Agency Report
Consultancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC) says Mozambique has the potential to be the world’s third largest producer of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) after Qatar and Australia but needs to secure billions of dollars in foreign investment.PwC said in a study released on Monday that Africa’s energy industry would see a boom in coming years, with Mozambique and Tanzania expected to emerge as new gas frontiers if they could get the required investment.
“Large gas finds in both African nations would make the world take note of East Africa as an emerging player in the global industry,” said Chris Bredenhann who coordinated the study.
PwC revealed that transactions worth around US$1 billion occurred every 17 days in Africa’s oil and gas sector in 2013.
Six of the top 10 global oil and gas discoveries in 2013 were made in Africa, with more than 500 companies now exploring across to the continent, the report added.
Nearly nine million barrels of crude oil were produced every day in 2013, with more than 80 percent coming from established players such as Nigeria, Libya, Algeria, Egypt and Angola.
In the gas sector, production was even more concentrated, with 90 percent of annual natural gas output of 1.8 trillion cubic metres coming from Nigeria, Libya, Algeria and Egypt.