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WEST AFRICA
Rhinoceros
Brief history of the country
The Central African Republic (CAR) is bordered by Chad and Sudan to the north, South Sudan to the east, Congo (Kinshasa) and Congo (Brazzaville) to the south, and Cameroon to the west. It is land-locked.
Central Africa was settled around 8000 BC when hunter-gatherers migrated from the north. Bantu speakers spread east from Cameroon from 1000 BC and settlements were established along the Ubangi River.
In the 16th and 17th centuries slave traders raided the region, selling their captives down the river. Subsequently a number of kingdoms ruled the area until Europeans arrived in 1885.
By 1894, France had created the colony of Ubangi-Shari. In 1920, after partial German rule, French Equatorial Africa was established and Ubangi-Shari was run from Brazzaville. The French used forced labour in the region leading to an insurrection in 1928 which was suppressed in 1931. However, the rebellion eventually led to the Central African Republic being established in 1946.
It gained independence in 1960. Ruled by a series of autocratic leaders ever since, it has been politically unstable. A civil war began in 2004 and, despite several peace treaties, the war continues. Although having mineral and other resources the country is very poor.
Oil and gas summary
Most of the land-locked Central African Republic consists of savannas with desert in the north and equatorial forest in the south. Two thirds is within the basin of the Ubangi River, which flows into the Congo. The remainder lies in the basin of the Chari, which flows into Lake Chad.
The geology of land-locked Central African Republic is dominated by Precambrian basement rocks of the southern edge of the Saharan Metacraton comprised of metasediments and metavolcanics.
A part of the Ngaoundere inter-cratonic rift basin, with a Palaeozoic fill, extends from Chad into the Central African Republic in the north. However several wells drilled in Chad and one in the Central African Republic, by Esso in 1986, have failed to find source rocks in this basin.
Consequently Globalshift regards the country as having no oil and gas potential due to a lack of prospective sedimentary cover. It is very unlikely to achieve any production in the future.
The country is prospective for gold, diamonds and other mineral resources within the metasediments and volcanics.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Map and National Flag
West Africa
Capital
Population
Land area (sq kms)
Oil prod (000s b/d)
Gas prod (bcm/yr)
Oil cons (000s b/d)
Gas cons (bcm/yr)
Bangui
4.5 mm
622,984
None
None
3
None
Government
The Central African Republic is a semi-presidential republic. The elected President is head of state with a Prime Minister as head of a Council of Ministers that heads a 105-member National Assembly.
However, changes in government have occurred through violence as well as elections.
There is no government department in The Central African Republic specifically responsible for oil and gas resources.