Western Tanzania: The Lake Rukwa and Lake Nyasa Rifts
Independent explorer Heritage Oil focuses on regions which may have been overlooked and where it can participate as an early entrant. We look at its exploration efforts in two blocks…
Africa
The Great Sphinx of Egypt: Nature’s Shabby-Chic Trick?
There has long been a debate as to the true age of the Great Sphinx of Egypt. Some experts believe that an analysis of weathering and erosion can help fix…
The Deepwater Niger Delta: An Underexplored World-Class Petroleum Province
The Niger Delta system (Figure 1) is one of the world’s largest Tertiary deltas and one of its most prolific hydrocarbon systems, containing an estimated 68 Bboe and producing approximately 3 MMboe per…
Feelings Before Facts
Elephants hiding in East Africa? The discovery of hydrocarbons can be a wonderful bonus to a country, or a mixed blessing – or in some cases, the root of decades…
Keep your Eye on NWAAM
The North West African Atlantic margin (NWAAM) is entering a new phase of activity. Despite the fact that many of the established petroliferous basins of Africa are entering the mature…
Exploration in the East African Rift System
Billions of barrels of oil have been discovered in the East African Rifts in recent years, but it remains highly underexplored with only two rifts partially explored so far. The…
Ben Asante: Riding the Wave
Benjamin Asante, until recently a senior geoscientist at the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, has ridden the wave of Ghana’s national development. Although his story is full of significant and unusual…
Eddy Belle: Promoting the Seychelles
“We have everything we need to make the Seychelles the next big oil province,” exclaims Eddy Belle, CEO of the national oil company, PetroSeychelles. “We have source, reservoir and cap…
Duncan Clarke: Economics and the Oil Game in Africa
Duncan Clarke is one of the best known names in the upstream oil industry as an advisor to governments and oil companies, the author of a number of books, founder…
Oil and Gas Exploration in East Africa: A Brief History
East Africa is the emerging hydrocarbon province of the 21st Century – but it is worth remembering that this success comes after six decades of unsuccessful exploration. The exploration success…
Takoradi: Ghana’s Oil City.
Oil has been the catalyst for investment, reviving Takoradi’s fortunes as an export hub for Ghana’s many resources – but benefits to the local economy remain elusive. For the casual…
East Africa. Rays of a New Dawn
The offshore picture in East Africa is particularly promising, with the US Geological Survey estimating that coastal areas of Mozambique and Tanzania alone could harbour more than 250 Tcf of…