Rwanda+Petroleum+and+Natural+Gas


 * China Unlikely To Start Investing In Rwanda’s Natural Gas Sector Despite Potential Of Lake Kivu In The Next Five Years **

China is unlikely to start investing in Rwanda’s natural gas sector despite the potential methane gas reserves under lake Kivu in the next five years. China is not as active in Rwanda as opposed to other countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Rwanda is a land locked country in which approximately 90 percent of their economy is engaged in agriculture and the lack of Chinese investments in PNGSM signifies the overall Chinese attitude toward Rwanda. Even though Lake Kivu is estimated to have two trillion ft3 of methane gas reserves, the Chinese have made no investments into Rwanda’s portion of the lake. It is virtually certain China will not start investments in Rwanda’s petroleum sector over the next five years; according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration Rwanda has zero reserves and no refining capabilities.
 * Executive Summary: **

According to IHS Global Insight there are up to two trillion ft3 of methane gas under Lake Kivu; it is one of the world's three known "exploding lakes." Lake Kivu presents both an economic potential and a threat to surrounding life and environments. ContourGlobal, which is an international acquisition company of electric-power and district-heating resources started the KivuWatt project. This project is Rwanda's first independent power project and is the first commercial-scale power project in the world to utilize the methane gas produced from Lake Kivu. ContourGlobal designed and implemented Phase 1 of this project which details an innovative extraction and power plant system that taps the dissolved gas to generate electricity. The following photos outline where the KivuWatt project barge is and the steps it conducts. The barge draws up water from the zone saturated with the two gases and the methane is pumped ashore to generate energy while the CO2 is pumped back into the lake.
 * 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