Anglo-Dutch oil and gas firm Shell is set to install an oil rig to start drilling off the coasts of Benin and Gabon in West Africa for the first time
Industry sources said the latest drilling development formed part of Shell’s plan to re-appear in West Africa and other parts of Africa after its initial plan to establish a base in the East African coast was unsuccessful.
Shell has also targeted South Africa’s northwestern coast to start drilling in 2014, but withdrew from discussions aimed at acquiring a stake of Anadarko Petroleum Corporation’s gas findings off the coast of Mozambique after the buying price skyrocketed.
In recent years, western oil majors have come under cumulative pressure to look for other oil and gas sources to stock up waning reserves.
