Scotland Eyes East Africa Energy Space

With an aim to explore opportunities in East African oil and gas sector, a Scottish mission will be in Mozambique and Tanzania this week, Scottish Enterprise said in a note Tuesday.

“With some of the largest offshore gas fields in the world, no local supply chain and an immediate and significant demand for skilled workers, East Africa creates significant opportunities for Scotland’s oil and gas sector,” Scottish Enterprise said.

Twelve Scottish organisations – from business and academia – with an interest in the oil and gas sector, are heading to Mozambique and Tanzania on 18 March to break into this exciting new market.

The mission is organised by Scottish Development International (SDI), the international arm of Scottish Enterprise, and supported by UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and Aberdeen City Council.

 SDI’s regional manager in Africa, Gary Soper said: “East Africa is a pioneering market, and with 150 trillion cubic feet of gas discovered off the East Africa Coast in deepwater, Scotland’s unrivalled deepwater subsea delivery and offshore experience makes us the perfect partner to help bring it into production.”

According to Scottish Enterprise, operators in East Africa – Anadarko, ENI, BG, Shell, Ophir, Petrobras and ENH – are expected to spend approximately $2 billion to bring the fields to production and a good percentage of that, according to East Africa Oil & Gas laws, needs to be delivered locally.

“This means as well as capacity building, operators will need to substantially invest in education and training - around 25,000 people will require training at a technical and vocational level as well as higher education.”