The governments of Nigeria and the Republic of Equatorial Guinea have opened discussions regarding new partnership opportunities such as lowering the costs of major oil and gas operations, establishment of a joint logistics base and deployment of indigenous capacities across countries.
These possibilities were discussed yesterday when the Minister of Planning and Economic Diversification of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Mr Gabriel Mbega Obiang Lima, led a delegation to engage the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Engr Simbi Kesiye Wabote, at the board’s liaison office.
Conversations at the meeting centred on inviting reputable Nigerian oil and gas service companies to establish their operational bases in Equatorial Guinea, whereby the companies would use the country’s ports to launch their activities in neighbouring countries like Gabon, Cameroon and Angola.
The minister, who complained about the exorbitant costs of key oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Guinea, suggested that operators in Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea could lower their costs significantly by collaborating in the scheduling of their respective work programmes such as mobilisation and demobilisation of drilling rigs and other assets.
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Responding, Wabote noted that both nations had collaborated closely in the energy sector in recent years and that representatives of the Portuguese nation had participated in several Nigerian oil and gas conferences and visited some oil and gas facilities as well.
He said, “We will galvanise Nigerian service producers under the Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) and make sure they come with us to your conference; and we will synergise.
“There is no need going to US or Singapore. We can work out areas where we can partner. It might be in the marine sector, logistics base. There are huge opportunities.”
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