Africa has 30 percent of world off-shore oil reserves, British expert

Africa has 30 percent of the world's off-shore oil reserves, said Edwin Bowles, a British export promotion expert.

The expert, who was speaking at a meeting on oil and environment in Casablanca, said he was upbeat as to the outcome of oil drilling in Moroccan off-shore areas. These drilling operations will help find oil by 2004, he predicted.

The meeting is held in presence of 20 British experts from the Home Crown Cercal Association and the British Equipment Studies Association.

The experts are studying new opportunities of partnership between Morocco and Britain, particularly in the realms of state-of-the-art technology.