The 5th African Petroleum Congress and Exhibition (CAPE V) will be held in Libreville between March 26 and 28, the forum organizers has said.

The congress will be organized by the African Petroleum Producers Association (APPA) in collaboration with Gabon's Petroleum ministry, the organizers said in a statement that was released on Thursday.

The CAPE V, which will be comprised of three days of conference, will be held alongside a commercial exhibition of the petroleum sector as well as a tour of projects in the petroleum sector, the statement added.

Some of the big players in the petroleum and gas sector on the African continent will attend the event, including Total Gabon, Shell, Tullow Oil, Addax Petroleum, CAC International, CGG Veritas, Maurel & Prom Gabon, Equatorial Guinea's Energy and Mines ministry, Perenco, PGS, Schlumberger, Sinopec Overseas Oil & Gas, SNPC, Vaalco Gabon and the Gabon Oil Company.

The forum will also be attended by high level delegations representing both the public and private sectors from the APPA member states which include Algeria, Angola, Benin, Cameroon, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Ghana, Libya, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, South Africa, Sudan and Chad.

In addition, there will be representatives of international institutions, petroleum companies as well as service companies that are active in the petroleum industry in Africa.

"The congress will be an ideal opportunity for the operators in the oil industry who are already established as well as those who are seeking to establish their operations in Africa for the first time," the statement added.

"It will help the investors to understand the political environment, the regulatory frameworks and the legal as well as taxation regimes in the industry on the continent," the statement concluded.