Page 9 - AfrOil Week 42 2022

AfrOil INVESTMENT AfrOil

Repayments will be stepped up next year, said “We will look more at the concessional and
Finance Minister Vera Daves de Sousa, accord- semi-concessional financing, selling local bonds
ing to whom Angola’s debt as a proportion of to international investors, tapping structured
the gross domestic product (GDP) is projected commercial loans from export credit agencies
to fall to about 61% in 2023, down from 66% this and entering into partnerships with private
year and more than 100% in 2020. investors and multilateral finance institutions
De Sousa attributed the improvement in the to build new infrastructure,” the finance minis-
metric to a rebound in the economy, the nation’s ter said. ™
strengthening currency and the government’s
conservative approach towards taking on new
loans and determination to reduce interest costs,
Macao News writes.
President Joao Lourenco reappointed De
Sousa to her post after winning re-election
in an August 24 vote. He has pledged to focus
on creating jobs for youths and improving liv-
ing standards for all during his second term,
Bloomberg reports.
The government said it aims to free up
money by diversifying its sources of funding and
further reducing its borrowing costs, although
its options are limited in the current global
environment.
De Sousa told Bloomberg that the coun-
try will be very careful about stepping into the
market. De Sousa says debt repayments will be stepped up in 2023 (Photo: MinFin.gov.ao)

PERFORMANCE
NLNG’s force majeure declaration leads

Galp to assess impact on LNG supplies

NIGERIA GALP Energia indicated on October 17 that it about half of the LNG delivered to that country
was assessing the impact on its supply chain after – which is, along with other EU member states,
learning that the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) consor- nervous about securing adequate fuel supplies
tium had declared force majeure on deliveries. ahead of the coming winter. Reuters noted on
In a statement, the Portuguese company said October 18 that Jefferies, a New York-headquar-
NLNG had notified it of the declaration, which tered investment bank, had identified Portugal
affected both LNG and natural gas liquids and the UK-based major Shell as the parties that
(NGLs), following widespread floods in Nigeria. faced the most risk as a result of the shutdown
The consortium reported in its notice that it at NLNG.
had interrupted shipments due to the “extensive Galp is contracted to buy about 1mn tonnes
flooding being experienced in Nigeria, causing per year (tpy) of LNG from NLNG’s first three
a substantial reduction in the production and production trains under a 10-year deal signed
supply of liquefied natural gas and natural gas in 2020. It has also arranged to purchase 1.42mn
liquids,” Galp said. tpy of remarketed LNG from Trains 4 and 5.
It went on to say that it was preparing for the NLNG exported 18 cargoes of LNG in Sep-
possibility that its own LNG supplies might be tember, according to Refinitiv data cited by Reu-
disrupted, even though it did not have any con- ters. It will not be able to match that figure in
crete information to confirm this. October, as the flooding that triggered the dec-
“At this stage, no information was provided laration of force majeure led the consortium’s
to support an assessment of potential impacts upstream suppliers to curtail production.
from this event, which may however result in Equity in the NLNG consortium is split
additional sourcing disruptions to Galp,” the between Nigerian National Petroleum Co. Ltd
statement said. (NNPCL), with 49%; Shell (UK), with 25.6%;
NLNG, the operator of Nigeria’s only large- TotalEnergies (France), with 15%; and Eni
scale gas liquefaction plant, is a major supplier (Italy), with 10.4%. State-owned NNPCL serves
of LNG to Portugal. In 2021, it accounted for as operator of the group.

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