Page 12 - AfrOil Week 36 2021

AfrOil POLICY AfrOil

South Africa’s main gas import route is the ROMPCO pipeline from Mozambique (Image: iGAS)
Meanwhile, Priscilla Mabelane, the executive Mabelane also described questions about
vice-president of Sasol’s energy business, said future energy supplies as important, saying:
she expected co-operation with CEF to bear “Gas is instrumental in enabling a just energy
fruit. transition in South Africa and requires imme-
“Sasol has had a long-standing relationship diate attention to introduce additional supply to
with CEF through our well-established part- South Africa. Currently, the country’s gas sup-
nership in the Republic of Mozambique Pipe- ply comes from the Pande-Temane gas fields
line Co. (ROMPCO) pipeline and looks forward in Mozambique, which will need to be supple-
to commencing this next stage of growth in gas mented in the long term as these reserves begin
together,” she stated. to mature.” ™

NRGI reports that Ugandan oil sector’s

governance rating has risen since 2017

UGANDA THE Natural Resource Governance Institute Paul Bagabo, a Uganda-based senior officer
(NRGI), a New York-based nongovernmental of NRGI, pointed to a lack of transparency in
organisation (NGO), reported last week that the Ugandan oil sector. “Without a publicly
Uganda’s new oil sector had shown improve- available cadastre showing who has the licences
ments in resource governance practices over to which blocks and without the disclosure of
the last four years. contracts between the government and compa-
In a post on its website, NRGI said that nies, we Ugandans are largely in the dark about
Uganda had a score of 49 on its 2021 Resource who has the right to explore and extract oil,
Governance Index (RGI), five points higher and on what terms,” he declared. “We also don’t
than its number in the 2017 RGI. It attributed know who owns the companies with which the
the rise to “improvements in revenue transpar- government does business and therefore are in
ency, governance of Uganda National Oil Co. need of laws requiring the public identification
(UNOC) and reporting on the performance of of ‘beneficial owners.’”
the Petroleum Fund.” Bagabo went on to say that improved gov-
NRGI also stressed that there was room for ernance of the oil industry was more necessary
more improvement. Uganda’s governance of than ever, in light of plans for transitioning to
natural resources is still “weak,” it said in a press renewable energy over the long term. “A trans-
release, explaining that problems remained in parent and accountable oil and gas regime
several areas. These include licensing and laws would ensure that revenues from oil operations
governing deposits, investment rules and with- are invested wisely to avoid ‘stranded assets’ as
drawals, as well as monitoring of the impact of importing countries reduce their appetite for
oil and gas projects on local communities, it said. fossil fuels.” ™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 36 08•September•2021