Page 4 - AfrOil Week 43 2019

AfrOil COMMENTARY AfrOil
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) meets with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa (second from left) in Sochi (Photo: GCIS)
Moscow’s new African initiatives
Russian companies and African states signed a number of new memoranda last week in Sochi
WHAT:
The first Russia-Africa Summit took place last week.
WHY:
Talks on oil and gas investment opportunities led to the signing of multiple MoUs at the gathering.
WHAT NEXT:
These developments are encouraging but do not necessarily portend a huge influx of Russian investment in Africa projects in the near term.
THE Kremlin’s first Russia-Africa Summit, which took place in the Black Sea resort of Sochi last week, appears to have been a success. It was attended by government officials and business- men from more than 50 African countries and was described by Russian President Vladimir Putin as the start of a new phase in relations between the Kremlin and Africa.
With respect to oil and gas, the two-day gathering facilitated meetings between Russian and African delegates and led to the signing of multiple documents that called for Russian companies to participate in African projects. This essay will examine some of those deals and discussions.
Equatorial Guinea
One of the African countries that attracted the attention of Russian companies last week was Equatorial Guinea, which possesses both crude oil and natural gas reserves.
During the summit, Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, the African state’s Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, signed two documents with Russian firms on October 23. As of press time, neither the Equatoguinean government nor the Russian companies had revealed many details of these deals.
The African Energy Chamber has reported, though, that one of the documents was a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rosgeo, Russia’s state geological concern. In a statement, the chamber said that the docu- ment provided for the parties to work together “mainly in airborne geophysical operations, 2D and 3D regional seismic survey in transit and deepwater offshore zones, but also in the processing and interpreting of seismic data (including gravity and magnetic survey, electro- chemical and geochemical studies), engineering studies and other works.”
Meanwhile, the organisation also reported that Obiang Lima had signed an MoU with Lukoil, Russia’s largest privately owned oil oper- ator. This document lays the groundwork for the Russian firm’s participation in exploration and development work in Equatorial Guinea, it said.
Ghana and Congo
Lukoil also displayed interest in other African countries during the summit. Its CEO, Vagit Alekperov, told journalists at the event that his company was eyeing opportunities in Ghana and the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville).
“We are holding rather active negotiations
with the government of Ghana jointly with [the Norwegian company] Aker on a deepwater block,” he said. “I hope that we will hold several
joint negotiations, including a meeting with Ghana’s authorities here.” 
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 43 30•October•2019