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 CAMEROON
West Africa
Cameroon has a relatively small offshore area because
it does not own Bioko Island, lying in the deep water extension of its
two rift basins – Rio del Rey (part of the Niger Delta) and Douala. However, some oil
production comes from shallow waters in Rio del Rey and substantial gas
reserves have been discovered in both areas.
The state is represented by Société National des
Hydrocarbures (SNH) established in 1980. In 2002, the government revised
its petroleum laws to create new incentives for investment.
 The country’s northern Rio del Rey basin, overlain by
part of the distal Niger delta, is well explored. Several fields were
discovered in the 1970s, with the Kole field producing Cameroon’s first offshore oil in 1977. In the early 1980s
additional exploration found several further small oil and gas/condensate
fields but since 1986 activity and production have declined.
The offshore area west of the Bakassi peninsula may
contain further oil and gas reserves but operations in the area have been
suspended due to territorial disputes with Nigeria since 1981.
A northeast-southwest trending volcanic ridge known as
the Cameroon Axis, which forms Bioko Island in Equatorial Guinea
separates the Rio del Rey basin from less explored Douala rift basin.
The first hydrocarbon discovery in the northern part of the Douala basin
was onshore in 1954 (Suellaba) but no significant production has ever
been achieved onshore.
Several large gas condensate fields were discovered
offshore near Kribi in 1979 and the early 1980s in the southern Douala
sub-basin. There may be potential for additional offshore finds here,
comparable to those in the Rio Muni basin in Equatorial Guinea.
Cameroon has extensive associated and non-associated gas
prospects but it is re-injecting or flaring all of its produced gas
after liquids recovery. Cameroon’s industries are growing and eventual
use of gas to fuel this sector is likely from both the north and south.
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