Chapter 2. Current Status of Energy in Cameroon
2.3 Analysis on Energy Supply and Demand System
2.3.2 Energy Supply and Demand
2.3.2.1 Energy Production
The petroleum sector of Cameroon has contended with crises in 2001, such as shortfalls in liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and oil price shocks; however, the development of new wells and the increased production at the Dissoni well have led to overall increases in annual production up to 27 million barrels in 2014 production. According to the National Hydrocarbons Corporation, oil production in the country has exceeded 100,000 barrels per day in 2015.
Natural gas production started in 2013, with an estimated production of 10.81 bcf in 2014. Likely, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility will be built in Kribi in the second half of 2017, increasing the annual LNG production to 30,000 metric ton.20
The <Table 2-12> below shows the volumes of oil and natural gas produced annually and <Table 2- 13> shows the volumes produced by energy source, including bioenergy, in 2014. In 2014, the primary energy production was 48% of crude oil, 44% of bioenergy, 5% of electricity, and 3% of natural gas. In 2014, the annual production of crude oil was 27.5 million barrels, indicating its significant contribution to the energy supply and demand. However, crude oil depletion has become a concern recently, as crude oil production is increasing but the confirmed reserves have not increased. Cameroon annually produced 65 million barrels of crude oil in the 1980s that subsequently continuously decreased until 2012. The reduction was ascribed to the depletion of the oil field, lack of development of new oil fields, and lack of technical resources (KEEI, 2016).
❙ Table 2-12 ❙ Cameroon energy production trends
Source: MINEE (2015, p. 88, p. 91).
19 Summarized from Cameroon Energy Report (Enerdata, 2013)
20 Refer to MINEE (2015, p. 79).
Resource 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Oil (million barrels) 31.89 31.25 30.69 26.68 23.31 21.61 22.38 24.28 27.5
Natural gas (BCF) - - - - - - - 5.37 10.81
❙ Table 2-13 ❙ Cameroon energy production in 2014 (TOE)
Type Production Unit Conversion ratio1) kTOE
Crude oil 27.5 Million barrels
3,731,475 Metric ton 1.022 3,651.15
Natural gas 10.81 bcf 26 281.06
Electricity
Large-scale Hydro 4,425.10 GWh 1/11.63 380.49
Solar 3.833 GWh 1/11.63 0.33
Wind 0.0823 GWh 1/11.63 0.007
Small hydro2) 0.576 GWh 1/11.63 0.05
Bioenergy 140,002.22 TJ 1/41.868 3,343.90
Source: MINEE (2015, p. 31)
Note): All definitions of energy sources are based on the IEA Energy Statistics Note 1): Conversion ratios are from the IEA
Note 2): Less than 5 MW in capacity
[Figure 2-7] 2014 Shares of energy production by source (%)
Source: MINEE (2015)
2.3.2.2 Primary Energy Supply
The energy-related data and information in MINEE (2015) only represent energy statistics and not the energy balance; consequently, there are limitations to identifying the total primary energy supply (TPES) through these data. To explain TPES of Cameroon, we use Cameroon’s energy balance information from the Energy Balances of Non-OECD Countries (IEA. 2015, p. II.73). It shows that the shares of each energy source were 24.1% oil, 5.2% natural gas, 5.7% hydropower, and 65.0% bioenergy, clearly indicating that bioenergy comprises almost two-thirds of the total primary energy supply in 2013. The reason for the difference between the proportion of oil in the energy products (48%) and the total primary energy source (24%) is that Cameroon is a net exporter of oil and the volume of the domestic oil supply to produce petroleum products is smaller than the total oil production.
[Figure 2-8] 2013 Shares of TPES by source (%)
Source: Constructed by the author using the data from IEA (2015)
The National Refining Company (SONARA) uses hydro skimming-type equipment and processes a volume of 2.1 million ton annually. This facility was designed to process light crude oil; however, the crude produced in Cameroon is heavy crude and the domestic production cannot be used as feedstock for refining. Crude oil for feedstock is therefore imported; with the imported portion of crude oil fed into the refinery reaching 97% in 2014.
❙ Table 2-14 ❙ Foreign dependency trends of feedstock crude oil (2007~2014)
(ton, %)
Source: MINEE (2015, p. 90)
Oil products produced through refining amounted to 1,578,493 ton in 2014. The largest portion was diesel production, followed by gasoline production. However, petroleum products peaked at 1,935,962 ton in 2011, dropping 18.5% by 2014.
❙ Table 2-15 ❙ Trends in the production of oil products (2007~2014) (ton)
Source: MINEE (2015, p. 93)
Fossil fuel used as fuel for power generation include diesel, heavy oil, and natural gas and the table below shows fuel consumption trends by year. According to the energy balance of Cameroon in 2013 (IEA, 2015), 363,000 TOE, representing 15% of the total production of oil products of 2,442,000 TOE, was utilized as power generation fuel. Total power generation in Cameroon in 2013 amounted to
Year
Type 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Refined crude 2,167,520 2,072,182 1,766,474 2,066,083 2,161,350 1,746,361 1,797,487 1,854,194 Imported crude 1,760,465 1,662,965 1,419,997 1,711,422 1,808,635 1,469,075 1,562,187 1,798,041 Regional crude 407,057 409,220 346,477 354,661 352,716 277,286 235,300 56,154
Crude dependency 81% 80% 80% 83% 84% 84% 87% 97%
Year
Name 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Butane 19,166 16,750 14,947 19,636 24,487 8,856 13,811 18,566 Gasoline 390,141 398,906 350,406 382,731 405,912 278,454 294,464 359,837 Jet A1 Fuel 404,480 345,558 291,814 332,430 378,566 285,540 285,234 278,785 Diesel 685,729 649,673 609,591 740,140 775,787 634,292 670,818 664,473 Fuel oil 1500 51,218 63,944 58,935 52,208 63,378 57,615 57,843 8,709 Fuel oil 3500 312,572 289,727 200,424 276,582 287,832 195,311 233,533 248,128
Total 1,863,306 1,764,558 1,526,117 1,803,728 1,935,962 1,460,069 1,555,703 1,578,493
Accordingly, there is a need to diversify the generation sources to ensure stable electricity production.
Only 15,000 TOE bioenergy was utilized for power generation, i.e., only 1% of the total generation capacity.
❙ Table 2-16 ❙ Fuel consumption for power generation in Cameroon
Source: MINEE (2015) p. 331
[Figure 2-9] 2013 Power generation mix by source (%)
Source: Compiled by the author using data from IEA (2015)
of total generation capacity, as calculated by MINEE (2015), and there were slight differences in the generation sources. The IEA (2015) does not include certain types of renewable energy, such as solar and wind generation. Explanations on the official statistics of Cameroon by MINEE (2015) will be covered in further detail in the section on electricity.
Type 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Diesel
(106L) 23.36 23.44 27.02 22.50 32.43 28.26 32.00 43.53 49.32 28.35 Heavy oil
(106L) 32.05 34.15 64.80 39.88 77.73 98.60 105.42 118.26 67.78 72.16 Natural gas
(106 Nm3) - - - - - - - - 117.76 271.30
2.3.2.3 Total Final Energy Demand
According to the IEA (2015), the total final energy demand of Cameroon in 2013 was represented by 20.7% oil product, 72.2% bioenergy and 7.1% electricity of the total, respectively.
[Figure 2-10] 2013 Shares of final energy consumption by source (%)
Source: Constructed by the author using data from IEA (2015)
The final energy consumption structure of Cameroon by sector for 2013 shows that the so-called ''other'' sector, including household and public services, was the main consumer of energy at 77.7%, followed by transportation at 16% and industrial use at quite low 5.9%. Aside from power generation, the demand for petroleum products was mostly from transportation. In the final energy consumption in the
“other” section, the household sector accounts for 91% and regional societies and public services sector accounts for the remaining 9%. Almost all the bioenergy produced was used for households. The final energy demand from bioenergy was mostly from traditional biomass and used for cooking.
[Figure 2-11] 2013 Shares of final energy consumption by sector (%)
The annual demand for oil products excluding LPG increased from 1,360,628 m3 in 2010 to 1,789,754 m3 in 2014, representing an annual increase of 5%. The annual demand for LPG increased by 40% from 62,120 ton to 87,471 ton over the same period, with 85% of the consumption being of imported. While the consumption of oil products has increased rapidly, their production has declined to such an extent that the country could need strategies for acquiring a stable supply of oil products
❙ Table 2-17 ❙ Consumption trends of oil products (2007~2014)
Source: MINEE (2014, pp. 6–19); MINEE (2015, p. 96)
There has been an increase of 40% in the consumption of LPG, which is used typically for cooking, from 61,120 ton in 2010 to 87,471 ton in 2014. This represents an annual growth rate of 8.9% and was higher than the growth rate of the other oil products. However, from the perspective of use per household in Cameroon, the accessibility to LPG is not particularly high. There has been a significant increase in the household use of LPG since 2001, but only 25.1% of the total households in Cameroon had access to LPG in 2014. This figure is even worse for rural households, with only 6.2% having access. Less than 50%
of urban households had access to LPG. It is assumed that households without access to LPG use traditional biomass, such as firewood and charcoal for cooking fuel. On estimate, 75% of the total households of Cameroon utilize traditional biomass as cooking fuel.
Year
Name 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Kerosene (m3) 117,887 115,440 111,979 110,500 119,957 125,058 113,574 108,396 LPG(MT) - 52,501 52,190 62,120 65,828 72,032 80,126 87,471 Diesel(m3) 503,015 526,070 534,648 624,295 699,718 771,305 856,611 864,577 Gasoline(m3) 393,997 409,795 429,011 470,562 507,322 571,381 616,601 653,187 Jet A1(m3) - - - 94,893 105,854 86,695 100,153 123,526 Fuel oil(m3) - - - 63,378 66,684 62,450 51,156 40,068
[Figure 2-12] Yearly trends in LPG accessibility (%, 2001, 2007 and 2014)
Source: MINEE (2015, p. 98)