Eastern Africa Resurgence Reshapes Oil Landscape

NAIROBI, Kenya, February 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

4th Eastern Africa Oil, Gas & Energy Conference 2013, held in Nairobi

Recent large and world-class gas discoveries in Mozambique and Tanzania, with potential for more to come, and commercial oil flows in Kenya, show the potential of the enormous exploration frontiers of Eastern Africa, both onshore and offshore. The impact of this resurgence is rebalancing the Africa oil-gas industry landscape into a wider continental oil and gas/LNG game, with potentially global consequences.

The 4th Eastern Africa Oil, Gas & Energy Conference 2013 gives new insight in the opportunities, acreage, key players and corporate and government strategies in this region. The Conference is hosted annually by Global Pacific & Partners and will be held from June 18^th to 20^th in the InterContinental Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, including the pre-Conference 4^th Eastern Africa Strategy Briefing by Dr Duncan Clarke, Africa's foremost strategist in the upstream. The meeting highlights presentations of CEO's, government officials, Ministers and key executives from within leading corporate and state oil companies.

Eastern Africa has been transformed into a fast-emerging oil and gas frontier region. The on- and offshore potential includes exclusive economic zones, deepwater opportunities and ultra-deep plays. The 15 nation states in the region are diverse in scale, resource potential, contract terms, and venture-types and in regard to exploration cycles and hydrocarbon discoveries.

Increasing numbers of companies have entered open acreage and bid rounds, and more blocks have been leased than ever before, with more drilling commitments concluded. Foreign state-owned companies like CNOOC and PTTEP have invested in Eastern Africa while Super-Majors (Total, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Shell and BP) have shown renewed interest, and Independents from around the world now abound.

During the 4^th Eastern Africa Conference key Speakers will reveal the exploration potential, future opportunities and growth in countries like Kenya, Somalia, Ethiopia, DRC, the Seychelles, Tanzania, Madagascar, Burundi, Rwanda, and regional oil giant Uganda.

"The new discoveries will add substantial net wealth to Eastern Africa's littoral states where they are located, and induce higher economic growth rates and regional development," Dr Duncan Clarke, Chairman of Global Pacific & Partners, says.

Prior to the conference the 4th Eastern Africa Strategy Briefing, together with the celebrated 51^st PetroAfricanus Dinner, will be held on June 18^th. During the Strategy Briefing Dr Duncan Clarke, author of several historiography and economics books about Africa's oil future, provides key insights on the corporate upstream oil and gas game, governments and state oil firms and licensing agency strategies.