West Africa ‘very promising’ for oil and gas

West Africa has a lot of potential for oil and gas exploration and “major discoveries” could be made in the region. That’s the view of Vagit Alekperov (pictured), President of […]

West Africa has a lot of potential for oil and gas exploration and “major discoveries” could be made in the region.

That’s the view of Vagit Alekperov (pictured), President of oil and gas company Lukoil, who made the comment during a press briefing in London earlier today. He said West Africa, especially Sierra Leone, is a “very promising” region for oil and gas exploration and the firm plans to launch a drilling programme, with the aim of drilling three wells in total this year.

Mr Alekperov added the Arctic region is also a potential area to explore in the long term for the Russian firm. It is believed to be making a case that “everybody has to have access” to the region and hopes “sometime in the future” it will have the opportunity.

His comment follows Shell’s announcement last week to halt its exploration drilling programme in the Arctic this year to give it time to reassess its safety measures.

Mr Alekperov said Lukoil has also “adopted and embraced” all the cutting edge technologies such as fracking, the controversial process of extracting oil and gas by drilling and injecting fluid into the ground. He added the company’s main priority at the moment is to tap into new resources by using new technologies.

Lukoil accounts for 2.2% of global production of crude oil and is the second largest oil company in Russia. According to new financial statements released for 2012, the firm’s net income rose 6% to a “record high” of $11 billion (£7.3bn) on the back of higher oil prices and sales.

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