Page 8 - AfrOil Week 14 2022

AfrOil INVESTMENT AfrOil

“The Tribunal’s findings are of course disap- its operations located in Douala, Cameroon,
pointing, to say the least, but they cannot be focused on providing energy alternatives to
appealed and we must deal with the conse- diesel and heavy fuel for the region through the
quences and move forward,” he added, accord- supply of its natural gas.
ing to a company statement dated April 4. “I find It focuses on the development of the Logbaba
this doubly frustrating as the current manage- gas and condensate field and exploration of the
ment (appointed by me in 2020) inherited this Matanda block to supply gas to its customers
2018 arbitration and they have been working in Douala, through its wholly owned subsidi-
flat out to deal head-on and decisively with all ary Gaz du Cameroun SA, by which it delivers
the issues they had inherited, and they had also fully integrated, indigenous gas-to-grid power,
found time to cultivate a hopper of exciting busi- thermal and industrial power customers via its
ness development opportunities.” 51-km gas distribution pipeline network. This
Victoria Oil & Gas Plc is a fully integrated network handles gas production from the Log-
onshore gas producer and distributor through baba Project. ™

Eni, Equinor and TotalEnergies submit

bids for Lower Congo, Kwanza blocks

ANGOLA ANGOLA’S National Agency for Oil, Gas and Australia, Qatar, England, Namibia and China
Biofuels (ANPG) began opening the bids it has to attend the restricted public opening of the
received for eight oil blocks in the Lower Congo proposals, ANGOP has reported.
and Kwanza basins on Tuesday (April 5) from The limited public tender covers five oil
the 13 pre-selected firms that were invited to bid. blocks in the Lower Congo Basins (16/21, 31/21,
The most prominent bidders were the Euro- 32/21, 33/21 and 34/21) and three blocks in the
pean majors Eni (Italy), Equinor (Norway) and Kwanza basin (7/21, 8/21 and 9 /21). The bid-
TotalEnergies (France). All three reportedly sub- ding contest was launched on February 25 as
mitted bids, but only for two blocks in the Lower part of the General Strategy for the Allocation
Congo Basin, ignoring more frontier areas in the of Concessions 2019-2025.
Kwanza basin, Energy Voice commented. Under the terms of the tender, the companies
ANGOP, the state press agency of Angola, invited to bid had to submit proposals within 35
has reported that Eni is seeking a 50% stake in days, with the deadline set at 18:00 on April 1.
and operatorship of Block 31/21, which it pro- ANPG explained that the bidding process
poses to explore and develop with Equinor. If the had been structured as a limited public tender,
partners discover commercial oil reserves at the in line with the rules that provide for doing so
block, they will be expected to pay a bonus of when, “for reasons of national strategic interest,
$5mn in a single tranche within 30 days of start- the award of concessions that have already been
ing production there. abandoned and returned to the state is pro-
TotalEnergies, meanwhile, submitted a bid posed,” ANGOP noted. In such cases, bidding
for 100% of Block 16/21. If it finds commer- is only open to “a limited number of compa-
cial crude reserves there, it will be expected to nies with proven experience and accumulated
pay a bonus commensurate with the size of the knowledge in the exploration of hydrocarbons
discovery. in basins and similar geological systems,” it
ANPG also invited investors from Angola, added. ™

The bidding round covers eight blocks in the Lower Congo and Kwanza basins (Image: ANPG)

P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 14 06•April•2022