By:Upstreamonline

China’s oil and gas exploration footprint in Africa is shrinking rapidly and may vanish altogether by the end of this decade, according to a leading energy policy expert, highlighting a significant retreat from a region once considered vital to Beijing’s overseas energy strategy.

Dou Lirong, director of China’s National Oil & Gas Strategy Research Center and president of the PetroChina Exploration & Development Research Institute, warned in a recent article published in International Petroleum Economics that, unless new exploration blocks are secured soon, Chinese state oil companies will see all of their existing African exploration licenses expire by 2030 when the country's 15th Five-Year Plan period ends.

China began its first major African energy push after 1993, in line with its strategy to “fully utilise both domestic and international markets and resources”. At the height of the drive, Chinese oil companies were involved in 61 exploration and production projects across 23 African countries, with combined equity output reaching around 30 million tonnes of oil equivalent annually.