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A strong producer

As a key com pon ent in Cam eroon's extractive indus tries' sector, oil andgas exploration and production are receiving unprecedented govern-ment support. Progress in this regard is encouraging and ever-higherhydrocarbon production is anticipated in future years as the indus-try reforms and mod ernises, allowing Cameroon to become a leadingAfrican player in international markets.

A bright future fornatural gas and crude oil reserve

With reserves of just 250m bar-rels, Cameroon may not yetbe in the top league of Africanoi l producers, but concertedexploration activities by a number of inter-national oil company majors would seemto indicate that the potential for growth inconfirmed reserves is considered by manyas commercially viable. The reasons aregeological, with Cameroon being located ata pivotal point on Africa's Atlantic seaboardon the Gulf of Guinea, sharing a proximi-ty to the same basin as twoof Africa's biggest produ-cers, Nigeria and EquatorialGuinea, as well as other pe-t roleum countr ies such asGabon, Congo and Chad.Currently, exploration is beingundertak en in several parts ofCameroon, from the basin ofLogone-Birni, to the frontiersof Chad and Nigeria, as wellas those of Rio del Rey onthe Atlantic littoral adjacentto Gabon, Equatorial Guineaand Nigeria.The state-owned National Company ofHydrocarbons recently issued explorationlicences to a number of western multinatio-nals including the French firm Total.The Bakassi peninsulaAlthough Cameroon's development policy isnot dep endent on the country's oil revenues,it should be noted that ou constitutes, afterother revenues from taxes and customs, oneof the state 's main income streams, contri-buting more than CFA400bn to the Treasuryand, in 2010, forecast to represent 20% ofth ecountry's domestic income.

The handover of the previously disputedBakassi peninsula by Nigeria, following ar-bitration by the UN to determine the inter-national border between the two countries,is likely to increase Cameroon's hydrocar-bon production, as the Bakassi peninsula isknow n to be an oil-rich region.In order to prepare for increased pr oduc tionand the country's increasing demand for re-fined petroleum products, the Camerooniangovernm ent has just undertaken an expan-sion and modernisation ofthe country's sole

The handover of the previously disputedBakassi peninsula by Nigeria is likelyto increase Cameroon's hydrocarbon

production, as the Bakassi peninsula isknown to be an oil-rich region.

refinery at Limbe, managed by the coun try'srefining parastatal Sonara.At an estimated cost of CFA350bn, there f ine ry ' s modern i sa t ion p rogramme hasbeen designed to provide the addi t ionalcapacity to refine both heavy and lightcrude and significantly increase its oil pro-duction from an annual capacity of 2.1mtons to 3.5m tons."It w ill allow us to increase development o f ourmarket share and export additional supplies tothe landlocked neighbours in our hinterland,while meeting national demand," confirmedSonara's general manager Charles Metouck.Cameroon anticipates also developing new

markets as far afield as East Africa, America and the US.Technological chang esThe refinery upgrade project integratetting-edge technology that offers the sibili ty of handling any quality of cand in particular the crude produced Cameroon. Once a new unit comes onthe Limbe facility will substantially acapacity. In addition, storage capacitybe increased, with the constru ction of a

distillation plant and thetallation of a cogenerationleading to a capacity of tons/yr to power a 9MW rating station, a Sonara sperson confirmed.Cameroon's natural gas ves, estimated at 187bn metres, are also a key efeedstock. A delegation of sentatives from Gaz de Fr(GDF) Suez Global LNGby the vice-chairman and operating officer lean-FraCerelli, visited Cameroon with the idinitiating a joint venture for gas devment with Socit Nationale d'Hydrocres. "We are confident that this great pof valorisation of Cameroonian gas, wibuilding of a liquefaction plant, will Cameroon to export to foreign markets,part of this gas production will be retainuse in Cameroon."The country has plans to build a gas faction installation in Kribi, sufficiemeet domestic demand and developexport markets.

By Achille Mbog Pibasso, D

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