Libya is the next investment destination. (Image source: African Energy Chamber)

Oil majors highlighted Libya’s immense hydrocarbons potential during Libya Energy & Economic Summit 2025

“With 40% of Africa’s reserves, Libya remains largely untapped,” said Julien Pouget, Senior Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa at TotalEnergies. Speaking of the company's plans for the year in Libya, which includes several exploration activities, notably kickstarting work on the Waha and Sharara fields, Pouget said, "“We expect results next week.” TotalEnergies has also reported promising opportunities in the Sirte and Murzuq basins. 

Set to launch three exploration plays in the region – shallow, deepwater and ultra-deep offshore, Eni upstream director Luca Vignati expressed the company's high anticipation of Libya. "No other country offers such opportunities,” he said. Oil exploration besides, Eni is highly invested in Libyan gas with the US$10bn Greenstream pipeline and a CO2 capture and storage plant in Mellitah.

Lauding Libya's efforts in fighting natural field decline and encouraging exploration, Repsol's executive managing director, exploration & production, Francisco Gea showed faith in achieving the country's production targets. “We have reached 340,000 barrels per day. The two million target is within reach, and as international companies, we have the responsibility to bring capacity and technology,” he said. Repsol has just resumed drilling in Murzuq Basin onshore Libya.

Maximising production

Travis Purvis, senior vice president of global drilling operations at Nabors, stressed on the adaptation of innovation and cutting edge solutions to maximise production and accelerate exploration, while reducing costs and enhancing safety. With ambitions to double oil production, Libya is also prioritising licensing rounds, inviting both domestic companies and international tenders. 

Bashir Garea, Technical Advisor to the Chairman of the NOC, highlighted the country’s immense oil and gas potential. “We have 48 billion barrels of discovered but unexploited oil, with total potential estimated at 90 billion barrels, especially offshore,” he said. He also pointed to Libya’s sizable gas reserves, noting, “Libya has 122 trillion cubic feet of gas yet to be developed. To unlock this potential, we need more investors and new technology, particularly for brownfield revitalisation.”

“Our strategy spans the entire value chain. Strengthening infrastructure is essential to maximising production and efficiency,” said Hisham Najah, General Manager of the NOC’s Investment & Owners Committees Department.

ADSW Summit 2025 to accelerate global sustainable development. (Image source: ADSW)

With an aim to leverage a US$10 trillion economic potential, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) 2025 will bring together 13 heads of state and more than 140 ministers, under the patronage of Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE 

With this year's theme being 'The Nexus of Next. Supercharging Sustainable Progress', the role of advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence will drive conversations at the ADSW Summit to be held from 14-15 January. 

Heads of state participating in the ADSW Summit include Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan; Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan; William Ruto, President of Kenya; Bola Tinubu, President of Nigeria; Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda; Wavel Ramkalawan​, President of Seychelles; Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda; Shavkat Mirziyoyev, President of Uzbekistan; Edi Rama, Prime Minister of Albania; Petteri Orpo Prime Minister of Finland; Giorgia Meloni, Prime Minister of Italy, and Anwar Ibrahim, Prime Minister of Malaysia.

"Under the theme, ‘The Nexus of Next: Supercharging Sustainable Progress’, ADSW 2025 invites you to discover the unprecedented socioeconomic opportunities that lie on the horizon and stand at the Nexus of Next. ADSW is not just a platform, but a bold call to action to explore and learn how interconnected systems are driving a new era of supercharged progress, unlocking endless possibilities to help build a better tomorrow for all,” said Sultan Al Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Chairman of Masdar.

"ADSW Summit 2025 comes at a pivotal moment for accelerating global sustainable development, with technological advances providing unprecedented opportunities for social, environmental and economic progress. The ADSW Summit will serve as a foundational platform to drive the systemic change needed to take advantage of those opportunities, amplifying diverse voices to catalyze change through connection and accelerating the transformation to a more sustainable future. By bringing together leaders in policy, business and technology, ADSW Summit 2025 will unite the global community to deliver interconnected solutions for energy, economies, and the environment," said Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, Chief Executive Officer, Masdar.

PETAN’s SAIPEC 2025 returns to Lagos, spotlighting Africa’s energy projects, local content, and regional collaborations across 50+ countries. (Image source: SAIPEC)

The Sub-Saharan Africa International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (SAIPEC), hosted by the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN), will be held at the Eko Convention Centre in Lagos from 11-13 February 2025

Celebrating its 9th edition, SAIPEC 2025 is strategically supported by the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and over 30 national oil companies and regulatory bodies from across Sub-Saharan Africa.

This prestigious event will spotlight multi-billion-dollar project opportunities in Africa and serve as a vital platform for advancing the continent’s energy, oil, and gas ambitions. Maintaining its focus on local content, the conference expects over 6,000 participants, including representatives from National and International Oil Companies, government agencies, regulators, and service providers from more than 50 countries.

Driving energy transformation

The three-day agenda promises impactful discussions, featuring keynote speeches from industry leaders, country showcases, and themes such as driving Africa’s energy future and economic growth plans. SAIPEC’s African Content Series, hosted by the NCDMB for the 5th year, will explore strategies for enhancing regional collaboration. Additional sessions will address critical topics like African gas strategies, financing opportunities, and Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion initiatives, emphasising the importance of inclusive progress in Africa’s energy sector.

Returning this year is the 'SAIPEC Future Generations Conference', designed to inspire young African energy professionals, along with the SAIPEC Technical sessions and the distinguished SAIPEC Awards, recognising innovations and accomplishments in the industry. Networking will be a key feature, offering attendees exclusive receptions, partnership-building events, and PETAN’s signature golf day.

The international exhibition, a core component of SAIPEC, will showcase cutting-edge technology, innovations, and services spanning the energy value chain. Global exhibitors will highlight advancements in drilling, exploration, digital solutions, and sustainability, providing attendees with opportunities to connect directly with leading suppliers, service providers, and technology developers shaping Africa’s energy future.

This year is particularly significant for host PETAN, as it celebrates its 30th anniversary, marking three decades of excellence in Africa’s oil and gas sector. Ibe Chubby Ibe, PETAN/SAIPEC Conference Chair, remarked, “SAIPEC 2025 stands as a testament to our commitment to driving Africa’s energy transformation, creating sustainable growth, and fostering inclusive partnerships across the continent. This year’s program is our most ambitious yet, showcasing innovative strategies, regional collaborations, and groundbreaking advancements in Africa’s oil and gas sector. We are excited to bring together industry leaders, experts and future visionaries to shape a prosperous and energy-secure future for Sub-Saharan Africa.”

The comprehensive event programme is now available for download on the SAIPEC website, offering attendees an in-depth look at the schedule to prepare for this landmark 9th edition of Africa’s premier energy conference.

The panel emphasised South-South collaboration. (Image source: Alain Charles Publishing)

During a panel session at ADIPEC 2024, industry stakeholders discussed ways to increase collaboration between countries in the global South and the global North

The discussion focused on energy transitions and the role of OPEC in ensuring energy access. Key points included the need for diverse energy sources, with OPEC advocating for all forms of energy, not just renewables. The conversation highlighted energy inequalities, such as Heathrow Airport consuming more energy than Sierra Leone.

The Paris Agreement was emphasised as a reduction of emissions, not a phase-out of fossil fuels. The East Africa pipeline and Uganda's oil projects faced financing challenges but are progressing.

The importance of South-South cooperation and regional collaboration in energy projects was underscored, with examples from Uganda, Cyprus, and Sierra Leone.

His Excellency Haitham Al Ghais, Secretary General of OPEC, explained why fossil fuels will continue to play an important role in the global South.

“We talk about the importance of another factor, which is urbanisation. By 2030 which is less than six years from today, we're going to have over 582 million people, nearly 600 million people, moving into new cities all around the world, again in non OECD developing parts of the world,” he said.

“The Paris Agreement, ladies and gentlemen, is about reduction of emissions. It's not about phasing out or phasing down or keeping the oil under the ground. It's about reducing emissions that includes technology, that includes investing in renewables, investing in all sources of energy.”

“We have the OPEC Fund for International Development, an agency, a sister agency, based in Vienna, that is very active in Africa and other parts of the world in developing and promoting socio economic development projects, energy projects as well as renewable energy projects.”

“We also have the charter of cooperation, which we signed in 2019 which is a platform that is open for oil producers to participate in, whether it's exchange of technologies, exchange of experiences between various member countries and non OPEC producers who are not members of OPEC that can participate in this platform to gain access to the best practices being implemented in our member countries.”

Growing South-South collaboration

Uganda’s Minister of Energy and Mineral Development Ruth Nankabirwa, said, “The East African crude oil pipeline was a negotiated project, and it was a win-win. My president wanted all the oil refined in Uganda, but because we didn't have money to do it by ourselves, we collaborated with investors and we let some of the crude leave the country, while some is refined, which will come with industrialisation.”

Deputy Minister of Energy for Sierra Leone Edmond Nonie, said, “We have big clients in the mining sector who have the capital to pay and have the willingness to pay for lower priced electricity from the grid. So we are embarking on a campaign to connect these mining companies, and once we have these transmission lines out to these companies, we can then do the further, last mile connection to our communities.”

Meanwhile, Cyprus is collaborating with Egypt for energy transmission.

The country’s Minister of Energy, Commerce and Industry, George Papanastasiou, said, “The conversation with my colleagues in Egypt is to utilise the [Egyptian] infrastructure [for export]. Secondly, there are pipelines that cross the eastern Mediterranean, which reach Egypt. And the infrastructure in Egypt, there are two LNG terminals, liquefaction plants in Egypt, which are under-utilised.

“This is possibly the destination in order to reach the markets. Of course, there is the domestic market of Egypt as well, which is very important. We all know that power generation in this country is mostly coming from natural gas. Cyprus is very well positioned, and at the right time in order to support and provide the natural gas and use the infrastructure in order to reach the international markets.”