Port upgraddes follow oil and gas finds

Logistics is the gamechanger in the African oil and gas industry, according to Paul Runge. “Get the logistics right and you stand some chance of success. Get it wrong and there is no way you can succeed,” he said. This holds true for the project sector at large in Africa where rural and remote locations often make the movement of cargo extremely difficult. “In Africa one must put things in perspective,” said Runge. “There are areas that have large deposits of oil and gas, but getting it out is not so easy. If you are good at logistics you are probably more than halfway there. With limited infrastructure in place it is not always the easiest of environments to operate in.” According to Runge there are several very interesting developments in the oil and gas industry that will lead to infrastructure improvements. “There are plans for the development of an oil city in Ghana where they will, on the back of the resource, develop a specialised industrial zone that will be able to supply all the auxiliary services to the oil industry. It is set to be in Takoradi where much of the oil is to be found.” He said an oil refinery was also going up in Tema in Ghana where there was talk of major port upgrades. “The Mombasa oil terminal in Kenya will make a major difference to the infrastructure that is currently available in that country while there is talk of two new ports for northern Mozambique. In Walvis Bay they have already broken ground on the upgrading of the existing port with a new breakbulk port expected to be up and running by 2020 at the latest.” Runge said all of these developments were addressing Africa’s lack of infrastructure, and while there were still some major hurdles to overcome, gradually inroads were being made. “We have to establish more infrastructure to make logistics easier and to bring down the costs if the continent is to truly benefit from the oil and gas boom.” INSERT & CAPTION Get the logistics right and you stand some chance of success. Get it wrong and there is no way you can succeed. – Paul Runge