BP (NYSE:BP) Says sub-Saharan African Oil Reserves Doubled in 20 Years

Oil reserves in sub-Saharan Africa have skyrocketed since 1989 to 2009, according to oil giant BP (NYSE:BP), rising to 127.7 billion barrels equivalent, almost 10 percent of the global total.

A growing number of countries in the region are inviting bids for exploration licenses off the Coast of West Africa, including Gabon, Liberia, Principé and Sao Tomé.

In the interior, estimates are there is as much as 71.7 billion barrels under the ground waiting to be discovered, according to U.S. Geological Survey.

It is becoming riskier to do business in Africa for the energy sector, at least for those already drilling in countries, as terms are changed as resources are discovered and extracted, as pressure to change the contracts to basically steal the profits is put on politicians in the regions by some of the local populations.

In other words, once the projects are underway officials are starting to change the terms of the original agreements to their benefit.