Irish oil group Tullow Oil is looking for acquisitions in Africa and is keen to expand to Nigeria and Angola.
Chief executive Officer Mr Aidan Heavey told Reuters that Tullow Oil 's purchase of a majority stake in South Africa's Energy Africa in May had doubled its attributable production to 55,000 barrels per day (bpd) and whetted its appetite for further expansion.
Energy Africa had brought significant added production, undeveloped discoveries and upside and frontier exploration projects, bringing Tullow exposure to countries such as Uganda, Mauritania, Egypt and Morocco, Mr Heavey said.
Tullow's portfolio includes a big business in Gabon as well as Equatorial Guinea, the Congo Republic, Cameroon and Namibia. It also has a presence in the UK, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
"We are keen to expand exploration and production. We are looking at acquisitions in Africa, which we consider a core area. We are seriously looking," Mr Heavey said.
"We want to expand to Angola and Nigeria which are key African markets and which one cannot ignore," he added.
Nigeria is Africa's most populous country and sub-Saharan Africa's largest oil producer. Angola is ranked second in terms of oil production.
The two countries are at the heart of the Gulf of Guinea, which is seen by some Western countries as a potential long-term alternative source of oil because of political instability in the Middle East.