Flickers of Hope for Africa's Upstream

摘要

This has been a slow and frustrating year for international majors focused on the emerging producers in sub-Saharan Africa as capital expenditure cutbacks,uncertainty over oil prices and government indecision delay approval of new multibillion-dollar projects.There are flickers of optimism,however,as momentum starts to pick up as hopes of a post-Covid-19 global recovery grow.In Uganda,Total is finally making progress toward making a final investment decision(FID)on the Lake Albert oil project,where the first discoveries were made over 13 years ago and which has the potential to produce up to 230,000 barrels per day of crude(PIW Sep.18'20).After a September meeting with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni in Entebbe,Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne said the green light could come before year's end,which would include a binding agreement to build a $3.5 billion pipeline to transport the oil to the Tanzanian coast.The Ugandan government also approved a $575 million deal for Total to buy out Tullow Oil's 33.3% stake in Lake Albert,leaving it with a 66.6% interest with China National Offshore Oil Corp.holding the rest.Analysts caution that Uganda has a habit of dragging its feet and may delay approval for at least another year.But with Total steadily reducing its carbon footprint and mindful of investment opportunities elsewhere,Uganda does not have time on its side.