Cameroon and US experts have discussed the future of oil and gas ⁰

Business representatives from Cameroon recently discussed with their American peers the future of oil and its impact on economies. Led by the American Chamber of Commerce in Cameroon, AmCham, the 31 participating companies recently gained knowledge on joint venture and subcontracting exploration, production updates, and investment opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa, innovative technologies and gas monetization.

Recommendations at the end of the 9th Annual Oil and Gas Conference recently in Houston, Texas, USA, included a more open attitude of African governments towards investing companies, need for deeper political and legal reforms to lessen the negative influence of government officials. There are 4.6 billion barrels of oil per day that cannot be refined, according to Kurt Davis Jr. of Barclay’s Bank. As a result, the creation of a Liquefied Natural Gas facility within the Central/West African region would be advantageous for energy purposes.

It was noted that the sharp drop in oil prices in 2014 affected many African countries whose economies are highly dependent on oil and gas revenues. Sir Sunny Oputa, CEO of Energy and Corporate Africa, host of the 9^th Annual Oil and Gas Conference, shed light on what he believes caused the drop in the industry.  Focus was on attracting investments to Sub-Saharan Africa, taking into consideration the abundance of natural and human resources, the large market, and the low labour costs.

It was agreed that the advantages of investing in Africa outweigh the often cited shortcomings of the region such as poor infrastructure, relative insecurity, low purchasing power, and weak public institutions. According to different experts, Africa is the future. With 90 per cent of its revenue from Africa, Tullow Oil experienced prosperity before the dip. In a report by Charmian Penda, Executive Director of AmCham Cameroon, the Cameroon tax environment and recent developments in the oil and gas sectors as well as deepwater value creation dominated the discussions.

Cameroon Tribune