JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, May 24, 2022/ — H.E. Djerassem le Bemadjiel, the Minister of Petroleum and Energy of the Republic of Chad, will promote the central African country’s hydrocarbon-rich basins and investment opportunities within the overall energy sector at African Energy Week (AEW), Africa’s premier event for the oil and gas industry, which will take place from 18 – 21 October 2022.
The participation of H.E. Djerassem le Bemadjiel at Africa’s leading investment platform is critical in helping Chad increase the involvement of international companies in exploration and production activities in the country and in attracting investments to boost the entire oil and gas value chain.
Leading a delegation of Chad’s energy market players including National Oil Company, Societé des Hydrocarbures du Tchad at AEW 2022, H.E. Djerassem le Bemadjiel will promote exploration opportunities within Chad’s Doba, Doseo, Salamat and Lake Chad basins, which remain untapped.
An engineer by profession, H.E. Djerassem le Bemadjiel has vast experience within Chad and Africa’s hydrocarbon market, having worked for American oilfield services firm, Schlumberger in Cameroon, Ghana and Gabon between 2002 and 2012 before joining the N’Djamena Refining Company as the Director General, working as an advisor in charge of oil inspection for President Idriss Deby and joining the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy.
Since his appointment as Minister of Petroleum and Energy, H.E. Djerassem le Bemadjiel has led a series of tax and fiscal reforms and campaigns which has boosted the country’s upstream sector. As a result, international firms including China National Petroleum Corporation, ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies and Chevron launched exploration and production operations in Chad in line with the government’s efforts to maximize the development of the country’s 1.5 billion barrels of proven oil reserves.
However, with factors such as declines in legacy projects and political instability reducing the country’s oil production capacity, H.E. Djerassem le Bemadjiel is leading new initiatives aimed at boosting exploration activities and increasing Chad’s portfolio of energy reserves while also expanding production capacity from an average 69,000 barrels of oil per day.
H.E. Djerassem le Bemadjiel is seeking to expand public-private sector collaboration to accelerate investment and infrastructure development across the midstream and downstream landscapes, including the proposed Niger-Chad oil pipeline and Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline. Moreover, with only 11% of the country’s population having access to electricity and petroleum being the main energy resource consumed by Chadians, boosting the country’s refinery capacity will enable the utilization of domestic oil resources to improve electrification while also addressing energy affordability issues.
With H.E. Djerassem le Bemadjiel expanding partnerships with the private sector and both regional and international institutions to enhance energy security in Chad through increased deployment of renewable energy, the participation of the Minister at AEW 2022 provides an opportunity to meet with investors, discuss and sign deals that will bring Chad’s energy sector to the next level.
“Chad needs oil to be able to continue its economic development and deal with socioeconomic cancers. With approximately 90% of Chad’s oil production exported, focus needs to shift towards the exploitation of these resources to alleviate domestic energy woes. We are proud to host the Minister at AEW 2022 where the central African country can learn best practices on how to diversify its energy mix using hydrocarbons from other energy producing countries such as Senegal, Niger, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria,” stated Tomás C. Gerbasio, Strategy and Business Development Director – African Energy Week 2022.
Under the theme, ‘Exploring and Investing in Africa’s Energy Future while Driving an Enabling Environment,’ AEW 2022 will host the minister in high-level meetings, panel discussions, and in various forums including the Energy Transition Forum, Upstream Forum, and the Finance Summit to discuss the future of Chad’s and Africa’s energy sector and how Africa can optimize energy developments to make energy poverty history by 2030.
For sales related inquiries please contact sales@aecweek.com
For attendance related inquiries contact registration@aecweek.com
For speaker related inquiries contact speakers@aecweek.com
For media related inquiries contact media@aecweek.com.
About African Energy Week:
AEW 2022 is the AEC’s annual conference, exhibition and networking event. AEW 2022 unites African energy stakeholders with investors and international partners to drive industry growth and development and promote Africa as the destination for energy investments.
Key organizations such as the African Petroleum Producers Organization, as well as African heavyweights including Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria, have partnered with AEW, strengthening the role the event will play in Africa’s energy future.
