Petroleum Africa
Find us on: 
Wednesday, April 5, 2017
Release
North Africa Oil and Gas players at NAPEC2017 pledge to make the region more attractive for investors
Technology and investment opportunities were among the key topics discussed at the conference
NAPEC helps industry majors identify win-win partnerships that can support their growth aspirations
ORAN, Algeria -3 April 2017: Oil and gas players attending the 7th edition of North Africa Petroleum Exhibition & Conferences (NAPEC), held late March in Oran, Algeria, were unanimous in their view that the region needs to speed up the development and modernization of its oil and gas field to offset production decline and increase the recovery rate.
Speakers at the event also discussed the role of technology as a game-changer in terms of increasing efficiency and reshaping the industry, as well as regional investment opportunities and incentives offered by the local government to woo international oil and gas companies to develop hydrocarbon reserves.
“We are working on making foreign investments in theAlgerian oil and gas industry attractive again, and currently we are working on preparing the next bid round,” said a senior official from Algeria’s National Agency for the Development of Hydrocarbon Resources (Al-Naft), in his keynote speech at NAPEC. “NAPEC has helped us in finding potential win-win partnerships, and we are ready to make this a reality,” he added.
Ahmed Fettouhi, vice president of downstream activities at Sonatrach, highlighted the progress the state-owned company has made in the exploration and production (E&P) segment over the last few years. He said the company plans to intensify its investments in the E&P segment of the industry, as well as develop renewable energy in the country. “We are planning to increase our oil and gas production by optimising the exploitation of our hydrocarbon deposit, through win-win partnerships,” Fettouhi said on behalf of the newly appointed CEO of Sonatrach Abdelmoumen Ould Kaddour. “We are also planning to develop our downstream sector as part of which we expect a number of new refineries to go onstream by 2020. These refineries will meet the demand arising from increasing local consumption,” he added. “Participating in NAPEC supported us in our effort to identify productive partnerships across the value chain, from oil field services and upstream plant maintenance to downstream services. The relationships we initiated in NAPEC will support us in our task of further enhancing our performance and efficiency.”
Jalel Smaoui, head of international operations at Tunisia’s national oil company Entreprise Tunisienne d’Activités Pétrolières (ETAP) said that E&P activity is expected to recover from this year. “In Tunisia, there was a 6% decline in production from primary energy resources in the period between 2010 and 2016, accompanied by an increase of Algerian gas royalty in 2016 vs. 2014-2015,” Smaoui said. “Fewer development wells implies less production,” Smaoui added; “However, development activity is expected to recover well from 2017. The discussions at NAPEC helped us find exploration and production partners that will assist our efforts to ramp up activity and accelerate growth.”
Chris Ward, president of the European Association of Geoscientists Engineers and director of geoscience and petroleum engineering, North Sea, for Baker Hughes, said low oil prices have led to declining costs. “Some is structural, driven by improving efficiencies, some is pricing pressure on the service companies, some hopefully will be driven by new technologies,” he said.
Historically, technology has driven efficiency, lowered cost per barrel, made new reserves accessible and increased recovery, Ward said. “The last long period of low [oil and gas] prices (mid-80s to late 00s) drove rapid technology change–3-D seismic, extended reach, horizontals, multilaterals, underbalanced drilling.”
The NAPEC conference attracted more than 700 delegates, while the associated trade exhibition attracted more than 800 exhibitors from 35 countries showcasing their innovative solutions and tec
The 8th edition of NAPEC was held at the Le Meridien Oran Hotel and Convention Centre from 21-24 March 2018.
" alt="First LNG Realized at the Greater Tortue Ahmeyim Project">
" alt="United Energy Acquires Western Desert Producer APEX">
" alt="Baker Hughes Announces Major Gas Technology Orders for Venture Global LNG">
" alt="ReconAfrica: Naingopo Results Demonstrate a Working Petroleum System">
" alt="Tullow Highlights 2025 Operational Plans in Ghana">
" alt="TotalEnergies to Supply 1.5 TWh to STMicroelectronics in France Over 15 years">
" alt="Rockhopper Reaches Final Settlement with United on Egypt’s Abu Sennan Concession">
" alt="Oil & Gas Crucial for African Growth: AEC Calls for Industry Support to Defend African Market">
