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H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima shares Equatorial Guinea’s plans to weather the current crisis in world oil markets during a webinar hosted by Africa Oil & Power in partnership with the African Energy Chamber on April 27, 2020.
Equatorial Guinea will launch new petroleum regulations to support its hydrocarbon industry with an emphasis on improving local content; The Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons is continuing its Year of Investment initiative and plans to make announcements of projects in the fourth quarter of 2020.
During a webinar organized by Africa Oil & Power in partnership with the African Chamber of Energy and the Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons (MMH) of Equatorial Guinea, HE Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, the Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of The country provided key information on the country’s plans to deal with the current state of the world oil markets and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Considering 2020 and 2021 “lost years” amid low oil prices and COVID-19, HE Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, stressed the importance of being flexible and adopting a realistic approach so that oil producers in the the world and, particularly in Africa, are recovering from the recession – a message well in line with the African Energy Sector Agenda that the African Chamber of Energy published today.
Keeping his optimism, the Minister told participants of the webinar: “I think this pandemic presents new opportunities for the African continent. This is a new opportunity as some of the traditional service operators leave the countries with the resources and have to realize that they have to do the work themselves. “
“This is a chance for African entrepreneurs to enter the market and operate their facilities themselves rather than wait for the end of the pandemic. This is a great opportunity, but with this great opportunity, we still have to be realistic, “he added.
Taking a realistic approach, HE Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima said that as the second semester approaches, small African oil-producing countries should focus on research and development, grant license extensions and consider 2021 as the year of reflection. In doing so, the minister predicted that Equatorial Guinea would see new legislative announcements that would include limitations on expatriates who will be three years old, and encouraging the domestic service industry to take responsibility and prepare for the rebound.
“The other regulation we plan to launch this week is the mineral and petroleum regulation,” said the minister. The launch of these regulations will allow MMH to develop its mining industry and support strong local participation in the sector.
Next month, the MMH will also publish new petroleum regulations that will focus on its downstream sector. “This is really what we think is the future of our oil and gas industry. Refining and endorsement are essential because they can create a lot of jobs and it is high time that we process our resources within the country, “said the minister.
On how the local content policy will change under the new legislation for national and international companies, he said there will be contracts and projects that will have to be 100% Equatorial Guinean. This will be implemented in the upstream, downstream and petrochemical sectors.
To move forward, the MMH will send three key messages to national oil companies (NOC) and international oil companies (IOC):
- The need to maintain the shareholder value that will benefit the population of Equatorial Guinea and to guarantee the maintenance of income generation.
- Provide operational security for workers who continued amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The importance of maintaining and supporting relationships between local and international companies, certifying that the two sides are meeting the challenges together.
With a central objective for local industries to get into the oil and gas sector, HE Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima said that for Africa to be competitive in the global oil and gas industry, it had to take the lead. control of its resources.
“We could seize this opportunity and not only be involved in the extraction of our resources but also in the processing and marketing sectors, because very few Africans are involved in this aspect of oil and gas activities”, a explained the minister.
2020 being proclaimed the Year of Investment in Equatorial Guinea, the MMH had maintained that the initiative is still important for the development of the country and that it will continue and lead in 2021 focusing on its petrochemical advancement.
“By the fourth quarter of this year, I should be able to announce the various projects that we are going to carry out. For example, we will have the first backfill production [gaz] in November and we expect some of our refinery projects to be under construction, “he said.
“The African Energy Chamber congratulates HE Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima for the measures he has taken to help exploration companies with extensions, and for production companies by delaying the work programs,” said NJ. Ayuk, President of the African Chamber of Energy. “This is in line with our African Energy Agenda published today which aims to support business continuity and the future growth of the sector,” he added.
The African Energy Sector Agenda of the African Energy Chamber is now available for free download from the home page of www.EnergyChamber.org.
By APO
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