government concerned. In Egypt the law governing natural gas vras amended in 1982 to enable companies to produce more than the volume which they are contracted to supply to the national cor­ poration. 141. Another avenue pursued in energy policy has been to in­ crease the percentage of oil which is refined in the procucing countries. Total rer1n1ng capacity in Africa has grown from 102.8 million tonnes in 1980 to 114.2 million tonnes at present. 76 E/ECA /CI>l. 9/5 Bearing in mind that South African refineries have a capacity of 23 million tonnes, or nearly a fifth of the total, and that in 1978 total capacity was 77.6 million tonnes, it can be seen that the expansion has slowed down sienificantly. Only in Alreria has growth · in local refining capacity continued apace. Some refineries have been both technically and economically ill- conceived; a case in point is the Pointe-Noire refinery in the Congo, which was built in 1976 and has never been operational. 142. In the short term, the oil-ir::porting countries have faced the task of minimizing expenditure on oil in the face of rising prices, and finding substitutes for it, while in the oil­ ·exporting countries the task has been to stimulate external demano. As already explained, oil exporters (mainly OPEC mem­ bers) have had recourse to various rebates anc discounts to cus­ tomers in order to boost demand. This policy has been followed in particular by the Libyan Arab Ja~ahiriya, which increased its annual rate of exports from 25 million tonnes in April 1982 to more than 60 million in July, well above the OPEC quota of 37.5 million tonnes a year. Oil importers have acopted a policy of increasing the retail prices of oil proc'ucts, encourapinf oil ex­
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the energy policy and natural gas industry in various African countries, specifically highlighting the changes in law, refineries, and oil production and trade. The focus is on the economic and industrial aspects of the energy sector, with no mention of environmental, agricultural, or humanitarian concerns.

**Category**
Economic development, Industry