Page 11 - AfrOil Week 23 2022

AfrOil INVESTMENT AfrOil

It also pointed out that the proposed trans- The African Energy Chamber (AEC) also
fer would not affect Bowleven’s right to a pay- hailed Perenco’s decision to join the Etinde pro-
ment of $25mn related to the Etinde project. ject, commenting that the Anglo-French com-
The company is slated to receive $25mn upon pany’s existing assets in Cameroon’s offshore
final investment decision (FID) from the other zone, including the Kribi LNG plant, made it a
partners in the joint venture, which will include good fit.
Etinde if the proposed transfer is carried out, it NJ Ayuk, the executive chairman of AEC,
explained. said he hoped that the new operator would use
Eli Chahin, the CEO of Bowleven, said he gas from the field to support domestic gasifica-
expected Perenco’s involvement in Etinde pro- tion initiatives, as well as export programmes.
ject to benefit the project. “We strongly welcome the change of opera-
“The prospect of Perenco becoming our part- torship in the Etinde field,” Ayuk said. “Perenco
ner and operator at the Etinde permit is very is a tried, true and tested operator and has shown
positive news,” Chahin remarked in the state- operational excellence in the country. We hope
ment. “We believe that Perenco’s proven Cam- that Perenco, a company that knows the region
eroon oil and gas developments and substantial very well, will be able to fast-track development
experience provide an opportunity to accelerate of the Etinde field, as well as the field’s surround-
our efforts to secure FID and the associated ing prospects. We look very much forward to
$25mn payment to Bowleven. We look forward seeing Perenco expedite the prospects for local,
to engaging with Perenco, and we will update African gas development, as well as the devel-
shareholders in relation to Etinde developments opment of gas for export markets, particularly
in due course.” to Europe.” ™

ANPG sees Angola’s oil and gas sector

attracting $66bn over next five years

ANGOLA ANGOLA’S National Agency for Petroleum, commented. “But obviously, we have points for
Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) said on June 8 that improvement, and we are focused on doing it to
it expects the country’s hydrocarbon sector to be as good as the best.”
attract $66bn worth of investments over the next To this end, he said, ANPG will be carrying
five years, about 40% more than in the previous out studying several options for making Ango-
five-year period. la’s oil industry more competitive, including
In a statement, ANPG reported that Alcides amending the taxation regime to optimise the
Andrade, director of its Strategic Planning financial burden, changing the oil contract
Office, had made this figure public at the Sev- model in order to minimise the impact of fluc-
enth Consultative Council of Angola’s Ministry tuations in world oil prices and reducing the
of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas (MIREM- duration of the competitive bidding process.
PET) on June 2-3. MIREMPET convened the With respect to the final point, Andrade noted,
meeting with the aim of analysing the sector’s the periods between the beginning of the bid-
performance during the 2018-2022 interval. ding process, contract awards and concession
Andrade said at the meeting that this pro- contract signings often add up to about a year.
jected sum of $66bn covered investment in “These are aspects that we have to improve
operational and administrative activities, as well so that Angola can occupy the top positions
as spending on upstream exploration and pro- of competitiveness in the sector globally,” he
duction. It will also cover the extension of exist- declared. ™
ing production licences for the offshore Blocks
0, 15, 17 and 18, he added. But he also empha-
sised that more than 50% of the total would be
dedicated to exploration and production work.
Andrade further stressed that ANPG
intended to support efforts to make Angola’s
hydrocarbon sector more competitive over
the next five years. “Angola is seen by interna-
tional operators as a competitive market in the
oil sector. The bids that we have already carried
out, either through public tender or through
direct negotiation, prove this, mainly due to
the wide participation of interested parties,” he Platform at Mufumeira field in offshore Block 0 offshore Angola (Image: Chevron)

Week 23 08•June•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11