Page 15 - AfrOil Week 24

AfrOil PERFORMANCE AfrOil

Mozambique’s Ministry of Economy and South LNG project, put its recoverable costs
Finance named Sasol as the best corporate at $1.095bn between 2015 and 2017, and some
income tax payer in the country in both 2016 $22.2mn of the total has been deemed ineligi-
and 2017. ble, the channel said. Total, which is developing
According to STV, the GCE audit results may Area 1 within the framework of the Mozam-
also have consequences for other investors seek- bique LNG project, claimed recoverable costs
ing to extract natural gas from Mozambique’s of $904.7mn for the 2015-2017 period and has
Rovuma Basin, though on a smaller scale. Ita- had $11.2mn declared ineligible, it added.
ly’s Eni, which is developing the offshore Area Eni and Total have also not commented on
4 block within the framework of the Coral the audit’s findings. ™

POLICY
Liberia, Nigeria talk up local content plans

LIBERIA/NIGERIA TWO African states are talking up their efforts Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB)
to encourage local companies to contribute to to support local content policies.
oil and gas projects. Speaking at the inauguration of four new
In Liberia, the government is taking steps to members of the board’s governing council, Sylva
promote local participation in the country’s first said he especially wanted to see the NCDMB
offshore licensing round. Archie Donmo, the develop programmes and policies that encour-
director-general of the Liberia Petroleum Reg- aged Nigerian companies to participate in the
ulatory Authority (LPRA), recently discussed construction of new oil refineries. Abuja has an
the matter at a meeting with representatives of interest in the growth of local capacity on this
the Liberia Chambers of Commerce (LCC), the front, he said.
Liberia Business Association (LIBA) and the He noted that the NCDMB had already laid
Patriotic Entrepreneurs of Liberia (PATEL). out its plans in the 10-Year Strategic Roadmap
At the meeting, Donmo said that Monrovia adopted in 2018. This document calls for
was working to apprise all potential investors of increasing Nigerian content in oil and gas pro-
the requirements for taking part in the licensing jects to 70% by 2027, he said. Doing so will allow
round. the country to derive more value from its own
The government has already invited Liberian hydrocarbon resources, he stated.
companies to submit expressions of interest NCDMB Executive Secretary Simbi Wabote,
(EoIs) so that they can pre-qualify to participate who was also present at the inauguration cere-
in the auctions, he said. The closing date for the mony, added that recent events served as justifi-
pre-qualification process has been pushed back cation for reducing reliance on outside suppliers
from June 30 to July 31, in line with requests and contractors.
made by members of LCC, LIBA and PATEL, “Most nations [have] diverted their prod-
he added. ucts to their own use, while others wait for any
“I encourage everyone to take advantage of crumbs that fall off the table,” he said. “The
this tremendous opportunity, which is poten- importance of local content in any nation can-
tially one of the means of promoting private-sec- not be overemphasised, and the [coronavirus]
tor growth in this country,” he said. COVID-19 experience of many nations is an
The director-general also stressed that the eye-opener. ™
government was committed to following the
provisions of the Petroleum Law that call for at
least 5% of each oil or gas contract to be reserved
for companies owned by Liberian citizens. This
is in line with the goals of President George
Weah, who has declared that “Liberians will not
be spectators in their own economy,” he said.
LPRA is offering nine blocks to investors in
the licensing round, which opened earlier this
year: LB-25, LB-26, LB-27, LB-28, LB-29, LB-30,
LB-31, LB-32 and LB-33. All are located within
the Harper Basin, which TGS has described
as “one of the last unexplored and undrilled
regions offshore West Africa.”
Donmo was speaking shortly before Nige-
ria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources
Timipre Sylva called on the Nigerian Content Liberia reserves a stake for local firms (Photo: Liberia Oil & Gas Services)

Week 24 17•June•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P15