Exxon is betting very big on Africa for its next big find, the supermajor’s head of exploration, Stephen Greenlee, told Bloomberg in an interview. In fact, Greenlee said, Exxon was hoping to strike a discovery of a billion barrels or more in Africa: what is known in the industry as an elephant, Bloomberg’s Kevin Crowley reports. The U.S. Geological Survey estimated that two years ago there were at least 41 billion untapped barrels of crude oil in sub-Saharan Africa alone. Exxon is focusing on western and southern Africa in its exploration work and has been amassing stakes in oil and gas prospect in Ghana, Mauritania, Namibia, and South Africa. In Ghana, Exxon tried to buy Kosmos Energy’s stake in the giant Jubilee offshore field in 2009, but the deal was blocked by the Ghana authorities. Last year, the supermajor bought straight from the Ghana government exploration rights for an […]