Petroleum Commission joins global oil giants at Africa Assembly in Paris

The Chief Executive Officer of the Petroleum Commission, Mr. Egbert Faibille, has joined more than 800 delegates for this year’s Africa Assembly in Westin, Paris, to state a case for Ghana's oil and gas sector.

The Africa Assembly, recognized as the region’s most influential corporate development, strategy, finance and investment gathering, begins on Tuesday, June 5, 2018 and would afford Ghana the opportunity to promote the industry, stressing why the country is emerging as a petroleum hub in West Africa.

Daily Graphic’s correspondent will be in Westin, Paris and Aberdeen in Scotland to update readers on the trade mission by UK Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UK/GCC) and the Africa Assembly.

The Africa Assembly would use its platform as a catalyst for the growth and development of the African energy industry, where key players will analyze the changes and evolution of the sector into the new world order.

The event, put together by the Oil and Gas Council, is on the theme, ‘The New African Horizon’ and is expected to bring together senior industry stakeholders under one roof.

The sessions would cover exploration and production C-level executives as the key representatives of national oil companies, ministries and local regulators.

This year’s Assembly will also focus on highlighting the many opportunities in the African energy industry, and discuss strategies needed to bring it into the next stage of development.

There would be an overview of the African oil and gas industry within the global market concerning how the African oil and gas industry can compete for investment within the global market place and what the key industry trends were in 2017.

The session would also seek to find out to what extent the industry expects these trends to change with large amounts of gas, including US shale gas, coming into the market over the next few years.

It would also look at how Africa can best prepare itself to remain competitive and evaluating the impact of the influx in US crude trading and its effects on shipping patterns around the world; and how this will affect the international trading scene.

The focus would also be on how Africa's deep-water exploration will compete and what would help increase the pace of development.

Other panel discussions and presentations would also focus on kick-starting African exploration and production activity in 2018 as to:

• the “dos and don’ts” of fiscal regimes; and
• building the regulatory foundations for developing a sustainable and efficient energy industry.

African energy industry
At the investors’ panel discussion session the focus would be on private equity and the African energy industry, while the finance panel will take a look at alternative funding, including innovative financing solutions and funding strategies for the future

African exploration and production sector
There would also be talks on lightning, assessing the impact of digitalization of the African oil and gas Industry.

The Exploration Director, Tullow Oil, the lead operator of Ghana’s two out of three independent oil and gas fields – Jubilee and TEN along with other operations in Africa, would then join the panel discussion on 'Flexibility in an ever-changing operating environment: Challenges and opportunities for independent companies in Africa'.

There also will be a discussion on assessing the importance of gas in the energy mix of emerging markets to find out if Africa's liquefied natural gas (LNG) can compete on a global scale and if export is always beneficial.

The session would also be exploring the benefits and challenges of finding the balance between international and regional exports and evaluating the current appetite of investors for gas projects in Africa; and to find out what makes a project attractive.

The session will also look at prioritizing in-region sustainable development, looking at how local governments set themselves up in the optimal way to develop a domestic gas sector effectively.

With LNG’s growing importance in the African energy industry, the panellists would look at what infrastructure updates need to take place to increase its potential and maximise local benefits.

They would also be assessing the role of small-scale LNG in developing domestic gas markets and contributing towards electrification.