MOMBASA, KENYA – Investment opportunities in oil and gas industry in East Africa will be on focus during a petroleum conference set to begin in Mombasa, Kenya on Wednesday.
The three-day meeting organized by the East African Community (EAC) will attract all players in the petroleum industry regionally and internationally.
“The East African region is already seen as a destination of choice for oil and gas opportunities”, the EAC said in a statement yesterday.
The 9th edition of the East African Petroleum Conference and Exhibition 2019 (EAPCE’19) will be held at a Mombasa beach resort until Friday.
“It would provide a forum for presentations reflecting developments in the oil and gas industry in East Africa”, the statement added.
While the drilling of oil will commence anytime in Uganda, Kenya has recently discovered major oil reserves in the Lake Turkana basin.
Tanzania is already a major natural gas producer in the region following the 2012 discovery of trillions of cubic metres the gas in its south east sea shore.
South Sudan produces and exports tonnes of oil although the sector has been impacted by the on-going political turmoil. Burundi and Rwanda are said to have gas reserves.
The conference was yesterday preceded by a workshop on skills development in the industry, facilitated by Norwegian Petroleum Directorate and Bridge Consult.
“The workshop aims at the identification and development of skills in order to maximize national benefits from petroleum exploration”, it added.
Petroleum experts are discussing how local content can be identified and understood through increased local purchase, higher employment of nationals or larger local ownership in the oil and gas sector.
The EAC Petroleum Conference and Exhibition has been organized biennually since 2003 to promote exploration, development and production of oil and gas in the region.
The main objective is to promote investment in the sector “by demostrating to the world the potential that lies within the region”.