Page 13 - AfrOil Week 48 2019

AfrOil
NEWS IN BRIEF
AfrOil
POLICY
African Energy Chamber
calls for better fiscal
terms and incentives to
encourage exploration
In its latest African Energy Outlook 2020, the African Energy Chamber (EnergyChamber. org) calls for sustained fiscal reforms to attract capital and technology into exploration in the continent.
In 2020, hundreds of blocks and acreages will be up for grab across Africa, from Senegal to Nigeria to Somalia. Competition will be fierce to attract capital from a diversifying basket of explorers now coming from North America, Europe, Russia, China, India, South East Asia and the Middle East.
In 2019, several African countries revised their legal and fiscal framework to incentivise exploration, as new world-class discoveries were yet again made on the continent.
With the signing of no less than nine PSCs in 2019 following the passing of its brand new Hydrocarbons Code, Gabon has shown that investors are ready to keep betting on Africa pro- viding that the right legislation and framework are put in place.
In its Energy Outlook 2020, the Chamber notably stresses investors’ concerns over uncer- tain fiscal terms in sub-Saharan Africa, and calls on governments to find better ways to reconcile their expectations of short-term tax gains with the need for sustainable and long-term invest- ment in exploration.
The importance of increasing exploration efforts cannot be under-estimated in Africa. The continent is the world’s hottest exploration fron- tier, with several discoveries made over the past few years. The world’s largest discovery this year was made off the coast of Mauritania by Kos- mos Energy. It adds up to other large discoveries made this year by Noble Energy in Equatorial Guinea, or the Springfield Group in Ghana for instance.
“2020 needs to be a drilling year,” declared NJ Ayuk, Executive Chairman of the African Energy Chamber and CEO of the Centurion Law Group. “Africa has the highest exploration success rates in the world. In basins like the MSGBC, international explorers like Kosmos Energy have even had a 100 percent success rate from all their exploratory drilling,” he added. “It is up to African governments and legislators to provide the right framework to keep attracting these kind of players ready to take risks and bet on our continent’s potential.”
African Energy Chamber, December 03 2019
GECF heads of state
summit launches
Declaration of Malabo
The Declaration of Malabo was published as the outcome of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) 5th Heads of State Summit on Friday. The declaration was presented by Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines and Hydrocar- bons of Equatorial Guinea, and Yury Senturyin, Secretary General of the GECF. The Declaration outlines the way in which GECF member coun- tries can cooperate to secure a long-term and sustainable energy transition.
The official Declaration of Malabo was sub- mitted on Friday as the result of the Gas Export- ing Countries Forum (GECF) 5th Heads of State Summit held in Malabo (November 26-29).
Drafted during a week of Ministerial and High-Level Ad Hoc Working Group meetings, the document reaffirms the importance of retaining sovereign rights of member countries over natural gas resources; securing an energy transition and meeting sustainable development goals; attracting investment to gas infrastructure projects; fostering co-ordination among GECF member countries; and establishing pricing mechanisms, among other key objectives.
“One of the positions of the GECF is to specif- ically designate the terms and conditions of the contracts between producers and consumers. Our community insists that pricing connected to oil indexation should serve in favor of our member countries,” said Sentyurin. “Produc- ers need to have a reliable flow of revenue to be able to ensure investment. With the connection between pricing and indexation, we try to ensure comfortable conditions for producers to ensure that their projects are implemented.”
The 5th Heads of State Summit represents the first time that the event was held on the Afri- can continent, reflecting increased efforts to attract African gas-producing countries to the organisation.
Africa Oil & Power, November 29 2019
Algeria’s Sonelgaz and
Equatorial Guinea’s
Sonagas sign gas
co-operation agreement
The Memorandum of Understanding covers the regulatory framework for the gas sector, the transport and distribution of gas through pipe- lines, the supply and installation of gas meters and all other areas of the energy sector of mutual interest; the Algerian government is focused
on strengthening the role of its gas sector in its national and international economy, as well as optimising energy efficiency; the signing cere- mony took place during the 5th Summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea.
Chaher Boulakhras, President and CEO of the National Electricity and Gas Company of Algeria (Sonelgaz), and Juan Ondo Ndongo, General Manager of Equatorial Guinea’s National Gas Company (Sonagas) on Thursday signed a Memorandum of Understanding on enhanced cooperation in the field of gas trans- mission, distribution and energy efficiency.
The signing was attended by Minister of Energy of Algeria, Mohamed Arkab, and Min- ister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea, Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima.
The agreement aims to develop skills, part- nerships and the sharing of best practices on gas and energy issues. Algeria is a leading country in Africa in the production, management and mar- keting of electricity and gas. Equatorial Guinea is currently developing its Gas Megahub project which aims to make the country a regional hub for gas distribution.
Minister of Energy Mohamed Arkab said: “[Some] 99% of Algerians have access to electric- ity and 63% have access to gas. We are actively developing the optimisation of the entire gas value chain in a collaborative way. We want to work together to collaborate with Equato- rial Guinea to share our respective fields of expertise.”
Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima declared: “I am very happy to welcome Algeria to this GECF summit. As a leading African country in the hydrocarbons sector, Algeria has led one of the largest delegations here in Malabo. I am par- ticularly proud to welcome a friendly country, a brother country.”
Chaher Boulakhras expressed his satisfaction with this initiative: “This signature is a major step in the collaboration between our two countries in the energy sector. We are ready to strengthen Equatorial Guinea’s capacities in all the subjects that require it, and, conversely, we are expecting a lot of collaboration so that Equatorial Guinea can share its wide knowledge in the gas sector.” Africa Oil & Power, November 28 2019
Week 48 04•December•2019
w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m
P13