Africa's energy ministers are considering to establish a pan-African oil company to ensure the continent's resources are exploited to the benefit of African people, the South African energy minister said here Sunday.

African leaders would "seriously discuss the possibility of a Pan African exploration and production company . . . to see how we can have some control of the resources" to compete with major international oil companies, Lindiwe Hendricks told reporters at a media briefing ahead of the opening of the 18th World Petroleum Congress.

"The proposal has been put on the agenda," she said without elaborating further details.

However, an official with the South African Energy Ministry who asked to be anonymous told Xinhua that the initiative also includes expanding the mandate of the Algeria-based African Energy Commission, which will be likely authorized to overview energy-related organizations in its member countries.

Angola's oil minister, Desiderio Costa, told reporters through a translator that Angola considered such a company as a "good idea," adding that "we support the idea but we need to deeply discuss what this company is going to be."

Who will lead the company is another crucial problem, a local analyst said.

The World Petroleum Council (WPC), leading global organization on oil and gas, will be holding its globally attended Congress in South Africa on September 25-29, the first time the organization holds its triennial Congress on the African continent in the 72-year history.

Africa produced 9.3 million barrels per day (bpd) last year, 11.4 percent of the world output, but most of this is exported to rich countries like the United States, the world's biggest oil consumer.
 
The continent, home to some of the world's poorest countries, consumed 2.6 million bpd in 2004, only 3.3 percent of the global total.

Nigeria, Africa's biggest oil producer, produces around 2.5 million bpd and is the world's sixth largest oil exporter. Angola is the continent's second biggest producer with around 0.9 million bpd of output.

About 85 percent of African oil is pumped out of Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Libya and Nigeria with Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe cited as emerging oil players.

But despite the supposed wealth coming from oil, many African countries continue to grapple with crippling poverty. Angola and Nigeria, for instance, rank in the bottom 20 on the United Nations human development index for 177 countries in 2005. Most Nigerians still live in abject poverty on less than one dollar per day.

The South African energy minister also referred to the so-called "energy poverty." She conceded "the African people are not receiving full benefits as host of natural resources."

"The conference offers the continent a chance to seriously look at issues." including the "continuous poverty of oil-rich countries," said Ayanda Mjekula, chairman of the South African National Committee at the congress.

Founded in London in 1933, the WPC is an international, unbiased, non-political organization that provides a forum for discussing world issues facing the oil and gas industry. It is dedicated to scientific advances in the oil and gas industries, technology transfer and to promote the management of the world's petroleum resources for the benefit of mankind.

(Xinhua News Agency September 26, 2005)