Saudi Arabia plans to invest $80 billion during the coming three years to raise its productive capacity to 12.5 million barrels of oil per day, says Ali Al-Naimi, Saudi Arabia's minister of petroleum and mineral resources.

If markets are favorable, it has additional projects on the books that could further boost capacity after 2009, he told attendees at the Petrotech 2007 trade show and conference in New Delhi, India, that attracted more than 4,000 attendees from 32 countries. The event was organized by Indian state oil company ONGC.

The kingdom will double its refining capacity to 6 million barrels per day both inside and outside the country.

Saudi Arabia does not expect the world's reliance on oil to change much between now and 2030. "Oil will remain the fuel of choice for the transportation sector and as such will make up significant portion of new energy demand in the coming decades."

Edmund Daukoru, Nigeria's minister for petroleum resources and 2006 OPEC president, discussed Africa's energy status. Some 85% of Africa's residents have no access to electricity, and nearly 90% still use biomass for cooking and heating.

While the continent is rich in energy resources, it is deficient in refining and access and in deliverability and costs. Africa produces 8 million barrels of oil per day, and uses 3 million per day.

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