Gabon+Natural+Gas


 * China Is Likely To Invest In Gabon’s Natural Gas Sector Over The Next Five Years Due To A Strong Gabonese Government Commitment For Exploration, Vast Reserves Of Natural Gas And Current Chinese Operations In Other Sectors Of Gabon **

China is highly likely to invest in Gabon’s natural gas sector over the next five years due to a strong Gabonese government commitment, natural gas reserves at 1 trillion cubic feet and Chinese firms involved in the oil exploration of the country. Gabon’s Mining Ministry has plans to boost exploration and production of natural gas because the country’s focus has been on crude oil production; however total oil reserves in the country are declining. Gabon’s natural gas exploration needs the infrastructure to properly exploit the resource and because China is heavily involved in other countries natural gas reserves in Sub-Saharan Africa, they are highly likely to make the push further into Gabon to meet their demand.
 * Executive Summary: **

Gabon's natural gas sector has been largely neglected due to the Gabonese focus on crude oil production. Of the natural gas produced, 90 percent is either flared and vented or re-injected to boost oil output. Gabon's Mining Ministry has plans to boost exploration with the help of foreign investors to increase overall production of natural gas. Most recent figures from the U.S. Energy Information Administration state that at the end of 2012 Gabon has 1 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves. Foreign investment in Gabon's natural gas sector is needed because the lack of domestic infrastructure has hindered Gabon's ability to properly exploit its resources for local consumption. There are small volumes of natural gas that are consumed at power plants in Libreville and Port-Gentil and Gabon produced 77 billion cubic feet of natural gas in 2011, of which only 6 billion cubic feet was marketed. China's Petroleum & Chemical Corporation is currently involved in oil exploration and production and it is likely they expect oil and gas output to increase significantly as more oilfields are found.
 * Discussion: **

** Analytic Confidence: **
Analytic confidence is medium. Source reliability ranges from medium to high. There is no conflict between sources. The analyst had low expertise on the subject, worked alone while also collaborating with a group, and did not use a structured analytic method. The subject is moderately complex and the deadline was moderately easy to meet.


 * Analyst: ** James Gibson