Ethiopia's leading private oil marketer plans to expand into neighboring east African economies and is interested in part financing a refinery after commercial discoveries in the region. Tadesse Tilahun, CEO of National Oil Ethiopia, said untapped crude deposits in Kenya and Uganda handed governments and investors the opportunity to construct a refinery able to compete with cheap imports from India, the Gulf and beyond. Doing so would help African countries extract more value from their resources and cut their import bills, Tadesse said. "Africa's demand for refined products is growing hugely because of its economic growth. The crude findings are also increasing. That is the opportunity," Tadesse said in Addis Ababa as part of the Reuters Africa Summit. "We want to (build) a refinery.
