Africa’s soaring demand for energy creates oil storage opportunities for investors

Africa’s annual appetite for gasoil and gasoline is expected to climb by as much as 8%, while demand for liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has hit double digits. The continent’s growing home-grown energy supply will help satisfy some of the burgeoning demand.

Africa produced 8.2m b/d of crude last year - 76% came from Nigeria, Algeria, Egypt and Angola, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ (PWC) 2015 Africa Oil & Gas Review. But East Africa is elbowing its way under the spotlight and changing Africa’s energy map – a move easily justified by its wealth of oil and gas assets. For example, Tanzania hopes to use its 55tcf of natural gas reserves to become a liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter by 2025, while Tullow and Canada’s Africa Oil have identified 600m bls of oil reserves in Kenya’s South Lokichar basin. Many projects are still in the exploratory stage, but investors’ appetite has strengthened East Africa’s position in the global energy arena.