Africa currently supplies about 12 per cent of the world(***)s oil -[EPA]
Published On 30 Jun 201030 Jun 2010
Africa (including Libya, Algeria, etc) has surpassed the Persian Gulf as the largest regional supplier of crude oil to the US [GALLO/GETTY]
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Nigeria is the US(***) 4th largest oil supplier, Angola the 6th and Algeria the 7th [GALLO/GETTY]
The US imported 18 per cent from sub-Saharan Africa, almost the same amount as from Saudi Arabia. This amount is expected to increase to 25 per cent in the next 10 years [GALLO/GETTY]
Africa offers diversification away from Middle East oil for both the US and Europe and also access to new gas reserves [EPA]
China(***)s leaders have concluded that it is too risky to only compete on the open market and the country is desperately trying to diversify its energy sources [GALLO/GETTY]
China(***)s 2003 National Energy Strategy stated that "oil is the key factor in the creation of public wealth, and also the most important commodity influencing the global political pattern, economic order and military operations" [EPA]
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Although some 55 per cent of African oil and gas went to Europe and the US in recent years and only 16 per cent went to China, China is projected to surpass the US in 2015 [EPA]
China currently receives around 33 per cent of its imported crude oil from Africa [EPA]
In 2009, Angola was the second-largest supplier of crude to China after Saudi Arabia [GALLO/GETTY]
India and South Korea are also trying to get footholds in Africa. India produces oil only in Sudan but Nigeria was the third-largest source of imported oil in 2008 [GALLO/GETTY]
Africa is also important for the major oil companies. Exxon Mobil produced 780,000 barrels a day (20 per cent of its oil production) in 2007 from Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Chad. Africa provides 20 per cent of oil production for ENI and 33 per cent for Total. BP has invested $8bn to date in Angola [EPA]
But Algeria(***)s Sonatrach is the largest producer of oil in Africa and is expanding. Angola(***)s Sonangol is also trying to expand, recently winning two oil contracts in Nineveh [EPA]
