Equatorial Guinea Signs Upstream MoUs

The Equatorial Guinean energy ministry has signed memoranda with winners of licences awarded under its 2019 licensing round. Its offer of 27 free blocks late last year generated interest from 53 companies and resulted in 17 bids, it said in a statement released by APO January 13 on behalf of the African Energy Council.

MoUs have been signed for Block EG-27 with Lukoil and GEPetrol (Niger Basin, offshore), EG-23 with WalterSmith, Hawtai Energy and GEPetrol (Niger Basin offshore), EG-09 with Noble Energy and GEPetrol (Duala Basin, offshore), EG-18 with Africa Oil Corporation and GEPetrol (Rio Muni basin, offshore), EG-03, EG-04, EG-19 and Block P with Vaalco Energy, Levene Energy and GEPetrol (Rio Muni Basin, onshore) and EG-28 with GEPetrol (Rio Muni Basin, offshore). The signing of these MoUs is a first step towards the fast completion of the Production Sharing Contracts.

The ministry said that this year would see more contracts signed, not only for upstream projects but also midstream and downstream.

Some of the agreements were signed during a conference in Abu Dhabi. The government has criticised earlier licensees for not spending enough on exploration work: Marathon had not done enough to backfill the LNG project, energy minister Gabriel Obiang said; and in another case, a licence was cancelled as the operator failed to take a final investment decision on time.