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As a result of the market volatility caused by the together,” he added. Equatorial Guinea, which could turn the country
coronavirus pandemic, certain Aje Partners Logico Managing Director Clint Brook said once again into a hotspot for natural resources
made the decision earlier this year to defer oil the switch to LNG where possible will reduce exploration. Increased exploration is expected
sales and store production on the FPSO, which savings and reduce emissions. “Dual Fuel trucks not only to help in sustaining and increasing
has up to 750,000 barrels of storage capacity. are undoubtedly the way forward and the ability domestic output of oil and gas, but also in prov-
Therefore, the Company and other partners to implement is on our doorstep,” Brook said. ing additional reserves in key minerals to help
chose not to participate in the 13th Lifting which “Full gas trucks will become a reality in the Equatorial Guinea further diversify its economy.
occurred in March 2020 due to the prevailing medium term when Renergen expands it’s pro- African Energy Chamber, October 05 2020
oil price at the time. This has allowed ADM to duction and footprint in South Africa and the
benefit from the recovery in oil prices during the outlook for green energy is very exciting,” he
intervening period. added. POLICY
The Lifting totalled 557,091 barrels with a net Renergen, October 06 2020
share of 33,056 barrels to ADM, which equates to Minister sets out
ADM’s paying interest of approximately 6%. The
proceeds of the Lifting will be applied against SERVICES post-pandemic plan
the project debt, significantly reducing the out-
standing balance. The nominated offtake partner Equatorial Guinea, Russia for South Africa’s
for the Lifting was Mercuria Energy Group, the
global integrated energy and commodity trading officially launch geological energy sector
company.
Osamede Okhomina, CEO of ADM Energy, mapping project in Río Muni Gwede Mantashe opened day two of AOW Vir-
said: “Faced with market volatility earlier this tual (October7-8), an online summit from the
year, we chose to take advantage of the large Last week marked an important step in the team behind Africa Oil Week. Minister Man-
storage capacity onboard the FPSO and to defer energy cooperation between Equatorial Guinea tashe’s address reflects the importance of South
oil sales from Aje. It is therefore very pleasing and Russia, as the first team of Russia’s state- Africa’s role in the Africa Oil Week community,
to have now competed the 14th lifting at a sig- owned joint stock company Rosgeo arrived in as the conference’s host nation for its 26 editions.
nificantly higher price than would have been Equatorial Guinea to kick off a historic geologi- The goal of AOW Virtual was to reignite the
possible earlier in the year. We expect to further cal mapping project. African upstream following a tumultuous year
benefit in the coming months from rising pro- The initiative has been in the making for that has featured unprecedented supply and
duction at Aje in H2-2020, increasing our stake some time, and follows the signing of Mem- demand shocks in the sector.
in the asset as we conclude the EER transaction, orandum of Understanding during the Rus- In his address, Minister Mantashe did not
and a further improvement in the oil price for- sia-Africa Summit in Sochi in 2019 between shrink from addressing the devastating effects of
ward curve.” Rosgeo and the Ministry of Mines and Hydro- COVID-19 on South Africa, having only recov-
ADM Energy, October 12 2020 carbons (MMH). It was followed by the signing ered from the disease himself a few months pre-
of two firm services contracts in May 2020 with viously. Though South Africa allowed the energy
Zarubezhgeologia and Yuzhmorgeologia, inter- sector to operate at full capacity following the
LNG nationally operating subsidiaries of Rosgeo, for nationwide lockdown, a decrease in demand for
the initial phase of seismic acquisition in transit petroleum products over an extended period
Renergen signs LNG supply zone and state geological mapping in the Rio meant some refineries were still forced to close.
Despite this, Minister Mantashe stressed that
Muni area in mainland Equatorial Guinea.
agreement with Logico forming scouting works for state geological map- the tide now looks to be turning, following fur-
As a result, Zarubezhgeologia will be per-
ther relaxation of lockdown restrictions in South
LNG and helium producer Renergen (RLT) has ping, and Yuzhmorgeologia will be performing Africa as it heads into Summer. He cited recent
signed a new natural gas supply agreement with scouting works for complex seismic acquisition “rapid increase in demand” for petroleum prod-
niche market transport service provider Logico in the transit zone of Rio Muni. ucts in the country, which is now leading to the
Logistics Group. Under the agreement, Logico The activities are notably aimed at analysing converse problem of shortages in some areas.
will be able to access RLT’s LNG via Total service landscape conditions for geological survey- The Minister’s address left no doubt that The
stations along the N3 route between Johannes- ing and prospecting, determining the scope of Department of Mineral Resources & Energy
burg and Durban in South Africa. mapping drilling, researching the possibility (DMRE) views the energy sector as a catalyst for
The transport solutions provider will also of mineralogical sampling of channel deposits, economic recovery and future growth in South
become the first customer to access Renergen’s analysing technical conditions for the arrange- Africa. The Petroleum Resources Development
LNG gas at Total brand fuel stations, as the two ment of geological camp in Rio Muni and other Bill will play a crucial part in this, and in the Min-
companies signed a marketing and distribution scouting necessary to prepare for next phases of ister’s plan to reduce the country’s dependence
deal signed earlier this year. exploration works. on hydrocarbon imports. On the recently pub-
RLT CEO Stefano Marani said signing Logico Equally important, the programme marks lished Bill, Mantashe commented “We have had
showed how sustainable solutions were on the the re-entry of Rosgeo into Equatorial Guinea consultations with a broad range of stakehold-
rise among businesses. “Adoption of sustainable following successful operations of its subsidiary ers. Our intention is to have the Bill finalised; to
solutions in business has reached a tipping point, Zarubezhgeologia back in the 1970s. when its attract investment and ensure synergy between
and partners like Logico are amongst those lead- activities formed the basis for Equatorial Guin- oil and gas activities and our nation’s environ-
ing the pack,” he said. ea’s geological exploration industry. ment and water resources”.
“We are proud to be their supplier of clean The Rio Muni area is believed to be one of Indeed, the Bill seems to already be yielding
fuel and look forward to a long relationship the most promising exploration frontiers in positive results for E&P in South Africa.

P18 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 41 14•October•2020