Top oil producing countries in Africa

Today, Africa is responsible for 12 percent of the world's oil reserves and 11 percent of production. The growth rates of the explored deposits and the scale of production speak to the significant role of Africa in the oil sector. One of the trump cards of the oil-producing African countries is the proximity and convenience of transportation of the oil to the largest consumers, such as the USA and Brazil.

New advances in technology and geological exploration allows us to have a fresh look at the reserves in countries such as Nigeria, Algeria and Angola. Over the past ten years, oil production in Africa has increased by up to 43 percent.

Highest oil producing countries in Africa

The list of oil-producing countries in Africa consists of four main countries.

1. Angola - despite the aggravation of the civil war, there is a significant oil boom. The country owns half of dozen of very large deposits. The oil production in Angola is estimated to reach 2 million barrels a day. The exploration of oil deposits in the north of Angola is exceptionally successful.

The growth of oil production is so rapid that the state company Sonangol is apparently not keeping up with these rates. Therefore, it is expanding its staff by about 300 young professionals.

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2. Algeria - one of the most promising oil-producing countries in West Africa. The oil sector of this country made a significant leap. With the help of foreign investors, Algeria was able to open the largest deposit in Ghadames. It is in this location that the specialists of the American company "Andarko" opened the deposits of 3 billion barrels. New technologies led to a production increase of up to 65%.

3. Libya - so far this country has explored its reserves of 30 billion barrels. But due to international sanctions and security problems in the country, the production is at a slow pace. Libya has one of the largest oil reserve, it is estimated at 48 billion barrels.

4. Nigeria - after a slight decline, in June 2016 Nigeria oil production increased by to to 1.53 million barrels per day. The authorities attribute this to the fact that they were able to restore all the facilities of the oil infrastructure after the attacks of the rebels and militants.

It took four months to restore the terminal. At this point, Nigeria is looking for ways to attract new investments in oil projects in the amount of 40-50 billion US dollars.

Oil producing states in Nigeria

The oil industry is the backbone of the Nigerian economy. The oil from this country is of high quality. The extraction is carried out mainly in the swampy areas of the Niger Delta, as well as on the continental shelf. In recent years, extractive companies have focused on oil production at sea.

Data of oil producting states:

1. Akwa Ibom – 504,000 barrels per day

2. Delta – 346,000 bpd

3. Rivers – 344,000 bpd

4. Bayelsa – 290,000 bpd

5. Lagos – 40,000 bpd

6 .Edo – 33,000 bpd

7. Imo – 17, 000 bpd

8. Abia - 11,000

9. Ondo – 60,000 bpd

What do you think, can Nigeria become the number one oil-producing country in Africa?

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Source: Naija.ng