Africa is the most prominent oil-producing continent, and many of its companies have gained ground in recent years. Current forecast place Africa will continue to be a significant contributor to global oil for over another decade.
Despite their name, many oil companies, such as Shell and Mobil, belong to international companies headquartered in Europe and the Americas. The African oil corporations with big names in revenue are mainly in Nigeria, Algeria, Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and Sudan.
List of Top 11 Oil Companies in Africa
The top 10 oil and gas companies in Africa are listed below. These enterprises have invested billions of dollars in the region, witnessed tremendous growth, and employed thousands of people.
Read through to gain insights about top trending oil companies operating in Africa.
1. PetroSA – South Africa
PetroSA, in total, the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa, is a national oil company owned by the state and operates as a public corporation under the Central Energy Fund.
As one of Africa’s largest oil and gas companies, PetroSA specializes in various upstream and downstream activities, including natural gas, petroleum, and related products.
The creation of PetroSA emerged in 2002 from joining three entities – Soekor Limited, Mossgas Limited, and parts of the Strategic Fuel Fund Association.
PetroSA’s Major Business Activities
• Oil and natural gas exploration and production
• Acquisition of international and local upstream petroleum ventures
• Synthetic fuels production, particularly from Mossel Bay offshore gas, South Africa – one of the largest global Gas-to-Liquid (GTL) refineries.
• Domestic refining and liquid fuels logistical infrastructure development
• Oil and petrochemicals trading and marketing
Revenue of PetroSA: The renowned oil company currently has a revenue generation of 0.94 billion dollars.
Net income: The net income of PetroSA oil company is R (1.608) billion, while the operating income is R (1.165) billion.
Employment opportunity: PetroSA offers many job opportunities, with 1,594 employees in 2017.
Location: 151 Frans Conradie Drive Parow, Cape Town, 7500, South Africa.
Headquarters: Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa.
2. Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
NNPC is one of the largest oil companies in Africa and is interested in various oil and gas value chain areas.
The Nigerian Oil Company (NNPC) is a state-owned oil company that’s been around since 1977. Founded as the regulatory medium for the industry, NNPC has been a vital driver of the Nigerian economy for decades.
The Nigeria Petroleum Development Company (NNPC) specializes in oil exploration and refining but has other business sectors.
Nigeria’s state-owned energy company NNPC has joint venture deals with Agip, Royal Dutch Shell, ExxonMobil, Chevron, and Total S.A.
NNPC Headquarters: Four identical towers, Herbert Macaulay Way, Abuja, and zonal offices in Warri, Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kaduna, and London.
NNPC’s Revenue
With its activities cutting towards exploration, refining, marketing, petrochemicals, and product transportation, its revenue is USD 12.98 billion.
Employees in NNPC
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is a Nigerian oil and gas company operating since 1956. They have 6,621 employees who work in the industry.
Net income of NNPC
Recently, Nigeria’s state-owned oil firm, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), made a substantial profit of N287 billion after taxes.
Organization Type: State-owned enterprise
Services: NNPC provides various products to consumers and businesses depending on their needs.
Some significant developments you can find here are gas, crude oil, petrochemicals, and petroleum.
Headquarters: The administrative office of NNPC is in Abuja, FCT, Nigeria.
3. Star Africa Commodities & Minerals Limited – Ghana
Star Africa Commodities & Minerals Limited, or Star Africa, is an oil and gas company with a strong focus on the African market.
Ghanaian oil company Star Africa started in 2009 to acquire mineral and hydrocarbon interests across Africa.
Activities of Star Africa Commodities & Minerals Limited
The company’s activities include mining and mineral exploration. They even support agriculture industries in Ghana with their products and services.
Location: 83 Osu Badu Street Airport West Residential, Accra, Ghana.
Revenue of Star Africa
The recent revenue of Star Africa is 48 100 120 while its operating profit is 2 198 350, and earnings before tax grew by 20%.
4. KenolKobil Plc – Kenya
Kenya Oil Company Limited (Kenol) is a pan-African oil company, one of the biggest on the continent, currently referred to as Rubis Energy.
Kenol Group owns several companies spanning seven Southern, Central, and Eastern African countries.
Product and services of Rubis Energy
Rubis offers a wide range of products that are useful for car owners. They provide fuel, lubricant, cards, gas, car care products, an app, a store, and payment solutions.
Headquarters: Nairobi, Kenya.
5. Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation
The Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) is a national oil company in charge of all licenses for energy development in Tanzania.
The oil company, totally owned and controlled by the Tanzanian government, is an industry for petroleum and natural gas.
Subsidiaries of TPDC
Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation, founded in 1969 and headquartered in Dar es Salaam, has Tanoil and Gasco as subsidiaries.
Employment in TPDC
TPPC has a division of seven directorates and three units. It has over 400 workforce strengths.
Organization type: Parastatal Corporation
6. Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation
Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) is a national oil company in Egypt owned and managed by the Egyptian Ministry of Petroleum.
The oil company, established in 1956, has its headquarters in Cairo, producing natural gas, petroleum, and petroleum goods.
Employment opportunity in EGPC
EGPC owning 70% of the Egyptian Natural Gas Company shares, has given job allocations to over 2,000 employees.
Net profit
The Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation’s yearly net profit is $2.14billion.
Company type: Public corporation
7. Sonatrach Algeria
Sonatrach is the world’s 12th most profitable oil corporation, and Algeria has one of the biggest oil industries.
Sonatrach, a state-owned company, has over 154 subsidiaries operating an oil value chain from midstream to upstream and downstream activities.
A company founded in Algeria in December 1963 is Africa’s largest conglomerate.
Sonatrach selected field
Sonatrach operates in fields like Hassi Messaoud field, Ait Kheir, Hassi R’Mel gas field, Tin Fouye Tabankort Ordo, Haoud Berkaoui, and Zarzautine field.
Revenue
Sonatrach, an oil company, has 12.2 barrels of proven oil in its reserves and has 76.1 billion in total revenue.
Employment in Sonatrach
The company, a producer of products like oil, petrochemicals, and natural gas, has granted job opportunities to more than 120,000 people.
Organization type: State-owned venture
Headquarters: Hydra, Algiers, Algeria.
Products: The company’s products are natural gas, petrochemicals, and oil, like fuels and lubricants.
8. Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo
Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo has been in operation since 1998 and is a national oil company of the Republic of Congo, also called the National Petroleum Company of Congo.
The company, which manages the government-owned production shares from oil fields in Congo, was established after Hydro-Congo dissolved.
Fields the company works with
The oil company has stakes in Moho-Bilondo, Congolaise de Raffinage, Sendji, Mwafi, Yanga, M’Boundi, Foukanda, Kitina, Tilapia, etc.
Subsidiaries of SNPC
The five subsidiaries of Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo(SNPC) include ILOGS, SONAREP, SFP, SNPCD, and CORAF.
Employment/net profit of SNPC
The SNPC has over one hundred employees and generates sales worth over USD 28.81 million.
Headquarters: Republic of the Congo
Products: the products available in this company are only petroleum
9. Sonangol Group – Angola
Sonangol Group, also called Grupo Sonangol, is a parastatal that supervises the production of natural gas and petroleum in Angola.
The oil company will have more than 5 billion barrels of coastal petroleum and offshore reserve in the future.
With headquarters in Luanda, Angola, Sonangol can produce 232,000 barrels of oil per day.
Sonangol Group Subsidiaries
Sonangol has 30 subsidiaries in Singapore, London, and Congo. They also have extensive distribution facilities in Houston and Hong Kong.
Net profit
Sonangol, the economic engine of the country’s oil economy, had a net profit of 79.98 billion in 2018 but experienced a $4.1 billion loss in 2020.
Company type: Statutory Corporation
Headquarters: The administrative office of Sonangol Group is in Luanda, Angola.
10. Madagascar Oil
Madagascar Oil has been one of the top companies in Madagascar since 2004.
The company, founded by Sam Malin and Alan Bond, is the standard onshore oil company in Madagascar regarding oil possessions.
Madagascar Oil was the first oil and gas company in Madagascar to advance an upstream oil discovery project in 2015.
Office of Madagascar Oil
Madagascar Oil’s operational office is in Antananarivo, Madagascar, and its headquarters is in Singapore.
Products and services it renders
Madagascar Oil produces only heavy crude oil in its oil field in Tsimiroro, Morondava Basin of western Madagascar.
Company type: Private Enterprise
11. National Oil Corporation – Libya
National Oil Corporation (NOC) was a successor to the national oil company of Libya. It supported the economy of Libya and has continued to do so for more than 80 years.
Established on November 12th, 1970, NOC carries out production operations and exploration through its allied companies.
The company holding the largest oil reserve in Africa is a member of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).
Employment Opportunities
NOC makes various jobs available such as engineering, administration, and accountants.
Company type: State-owned
Services
The National Oil Corporation offers its numerous subsidiaries crude oil, petrochemical, and natural gas services.
Headquarters – Tripoli, Libya.
Which African country produces oil the most?
Nigeria is the largest oil producer on the continent, with its crude production totaling 1.27 million barrels per day.
What are the three (3) biggest global oil companies?
The three biggest global oil companies are;
- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp
- PetroChina Co. Ltd, and
- Saudi Arabian Oil Co.
Which is Nigeria’s biggest oil company?
The largest oil company in Nigeria is Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC)
The company is known as Shell Nigeria, a joint venture operating in Nigeria.
Which African country exports the most oil?
Nigeria exports the most oil from Africa, and as of 2020, it ships over 1.8 million barrels of oil daily to other parts of the world.
Bottom Line
The biggest oil companies discussed above are mainly state-owned energy conglomerates headquartered in Africa, with sprawling international operations.
For years, the oil and gas industry has been a powerful source of development in Africa. They have provided jobs and income and contributed to new technologies.
