Sub-Saharan Africa upstream: 5 things to look for in 2022

Decarbonisation becomes the key priority, despite SSA's small share of global emissions. The M&A dam will burst in 2022, with the biggest deals involving historic exits from Nigerian joint ventures for Shell and ExxonMobil. Eni will sanction Baleine in Cote d'Ivoire — Africa's first ever 'net-zero' upstream project. But while oil production in SSA will really struggle, first gas will be achieved at Coral FLNG — an important milestone for Mozambique. SSA will remain a hot-spot for frontier deepwater exploration by the Majors. Eni and TotalEnergies are again to the fore, but Shell joins them in a return to frontier drilling. Insecurity becomes a more pressing concern across SSA as the fallout from the pandemic heightens tensions and emboldens authoritarian regimes.