Africa’s rich library of seismic datasets have and will continue to support upstream investment as the continent targets advanced exploration. With over 125 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 620 trillion cubic feet of proven gas, Africa offers companies the chance to make sizeable discoveries and generate high returns.

A panel discussion on Advancing Exploration in Africa and the Energy Trilemma at the African Energy Week: Invest in African Energies 2024 conference deliberated the role geoscience plays in accelerating successful exploration campaigns in Africa.

“Exploration can and will play a crucial role in addressing major issues by connecting more people with energy. Through innovative geoscience, we are making a global impact,” Nikki Martin, President & CEO, EnerGeo Alliance, said.  

Representing one of the final frontiers for oil and gas exploration worldwide, Africa is promoting greater investment in exploration to unlock the full potential of undeveloped acreage. Even for producing markets such as Nigeria and Angola, exploration is top of the agenda as natural declines in operating assets threaten national output.

In this context, Andrea Lovatini, Director: Exploration Data and Geosolutions at SLB, stated that “geoscience plays a critical role in the industry because everything starts with geoscience. To find new barrels and to develop new projects, you need to start with an understanding of the subsurface and reduce the risk associated with it. It’s important to continuously evolve the understanding of the reservoir and enable energy companies to explore as quickly as possible.”

David Hajovsky, Executive Vice President, Multi-Client, TGS, said that from a geoscience perspective, “We also try to push the technology, to ensure that the geoscience is of the highest quality and can de-risk exploration decisions.”

International oil companies are also strengthening their exploration efforts in Africa, prioritizing strategic assets that stand to generate significant value. Chevron, for example, is driving a series of frontier and infrastructure-led exploration across various markets in Africa.

“We believe that the future of energy is lower carbon. While we’re growing our portfolio of gas, we are also lowering our carbon intensity across existing operations. On a geoscience perspective, we explore around our producing barrels to reduce carbon intensity,” stated Liz Schwarze, Vice President, Global Exploration, Chevron.

In the current energy transition context, capital has become increasingly more competitive. Terry Gebhardt, Vice President: Exploration at Woodside Energy, explained that “in terms of competing for capital, exploration is sensitive, so it’s very important for host communities and governments to engage in dialogue with explorers.”

There has been a greater push by African governments in recent years to not only engage more effectively with exploration firms but create new exploration opportunities. Emmanuelle Garinet, Vice President: Exploration, Africa, TotalEnergies, stated that “There has been an increase in acreage being offered and an increase in licensing rounds.”

However, to ensure licensing rounds are successful, he offers three suggestions. He says, “What makes a round a success is attractive acreage - with data that supports prospectivity - as well as a work program that is adapted to the acreage. The second is the contractual framework. It needs to be attractive and clear. The third aspect is the fiscal terms, these need to be attractive for investors, and the last aspect is the pace of approvals.”

Beyond licensing rounds, Nosizwe Nokwe-Macamo, Executive Chairman and Founder at Raise Africa Investments Pty Ltd, shared that “a lot of countries are updating their regulatory environments. There is a trend of national oil companies decoupling their regulatory roles. This brings about greater transparency and efficiency. Additionally, countries are giving assurance that contracting terms provided at the beginning of the project will continue during the lifespan of the project.”