Rwanda is, starting today, hosting the 7th East African Petroleum Conference and Exhibition 2015 this week.

The summit, the first of its kind to be held in Rwanda, will feature a number of discussions which will be centered on how the region can fast track inclusive development that engages all key stakeholders in the oil and petroleum gas industry.

The conference will be held under the theme: ‘East Africa Region - Proven Destination for Investment in Petroleum Resources for Regional Energy Efficiency and Lasting Socio-Economic Development.’

It will explore critical topics on emerging trends; provide awareness of the potential for petroleum development in the region and other important developments in the sector including technological advancements in exploration, development and production of the region’s petroleum resources in accordance with international best practices.

This Summit comes at an exciting time for the industry, a time when the crude oil prices are falling and will provide international and national companies with an overview of the fiscal policies relating to exploration and production that are affected by the low prices, along with updates on current or future energy prospects in the world.

It will foster furtherance to previous deliberations of EAC oil summit that was held last year in Arusha nearly on the same month.

The envisaged growth in the sector was projected to come from improved operations, technologies, reservoir management, advancement in geology and geophysics, deep investments, risk control and new discoveries in the region.

East Africa is currently one of the most promising regions for oil and gas exploration. The region is basking in the glory of huge oil and gas finds in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The mineral hydrocarbon finds have raised hopes of greater economic development in a region that has for a long time depended on agricultural products to turn around their economies.

Oil is regarded as the best alternative source of economic transformation to the almost already depleted over-depended land resource.

The discoveries have also added to the excitement in the sector as new players look to enter these markets, including some of the largest independent and international oil companies.

There is no exciting time for East African than today!

In Rwanda, this will be an opportune moment to have the potential bidding companies to get firsthand experience of the country, when it is gearing towards the exploration licensing round for Lake Kivu and Bugarama grabens.

It is acknowledged that international companies not yet present are making incredible efforts to ensure that they become part of one of the fastest growing regions in Africa.

Rwanda currently moves in a vibrant exploration stage while the other partner states like Uganda and Kenya are almost at exploitation.

Countless underlying opportunities are therefore evident which the conference is expected to unearth during and after the discussions. Rwanda like other partner states will exhibit these petroleum potentials and demonstrate the commitment to turn the sector into a contributor in the country’s already fast growing economic development.

The East Africa Community Partner States will also showcase their potential for oil and gas that exists in the region and report on where the next exploration discoveries are forecast, new market entries, new infrastructure developments, overviews of planned government policies and regulations that can reshape the way the industry works.

The exhibition will enable attending executives to network and learn from each other’s experiences through engaging educational sessions conducted in a comfortable, yet focused business environment.

The event agenda is envisioned to offer opportunities for critical exchanges through visionary keynote presentations, executive think tanks, thought leadership workshops, analyst question and answers and much more.

Through knowledge expansion, the sessions of the conference will be focused on providing and emphasizing on technical presentation to provide industry with quality information, real time case studies thus creating a platform for further discussions, bench marking the best practices implemented and appropriate mitigations of challenges faced in the petroleum industry across the border.

The summit programme will feature senior government and industry speakers and it will examine the latest opportunities, provide roadmap for the successful and sustainable development of the oil and gas sector in the East African region.

Participants in the conference will as well cover the regulatory framework, financing, infrastructure and service requirements to support the development of the oil industry.

By extension, the summit will provide the insight and accurate assessment of the opportunities existing within Rwanda markets for their companies. It is expected to be an excellent prospect for networking, renewing existing business relationships among the investors in the industry and creating new ones.

There will be tremendous impact for the sector and the country as a whole in terms of attracting investors to help the country explore and discover more in the oil industry.

The Ministry of Natural Resources (Minirena) and Ministry of East African Community (MINEAC) have been coordinating and expecting conference to attract more than 500 participants including high profile personalities within the East African region and internationally.

The serene Rwandan environment, great Rwandan people and facilities, not to mention their hospitality will undoubtedly make our visitors’ stay a fun and memorable occasion!

The writer is the Minister of State for Mining.