Angola’s secretary of state for oil and gas has said that the southern region of Africa is looking at the country as a possible supplier of gas, adding that there are “many requests” from the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa and Namibia.
José Barroso, who was speaking during the public consultation session on the Natural Gas Master Plan, on Monday, said that the Zambian government had presented a proposal, which is being studied, for the construction of an Angola/Zambia gas pipeline (Lobito/Lusaca), “bringing along some private entities”.
“With the construction of the Lobito Refinery we may have surpluses [of oil] for export, but they have also asked us for the possibility of creating a gas line along this route to feed both the Republic of Zambia, but also possibly the Democratic Republic of Congo,” he said.
The Angolan minister emphasised that at the level of the Southern African Development Community (‘SADC’) there is a plan for the distribution and consumption of gas “and Angola has made a commitment there to be, if it has the necessary reserves, one of the main suppliers”.
“When we talk about the regional market, it’s already in line with the whole PDG [Gas Master Plan] strategy, because that’s how the rest of the region sees us, as a possible gas supplier,” he emphasised.
José Barroso emphasised that an institution has been set up on the continent to promote the development of a network of pipelines that can be used to distribute gas in the region.
“We really have a lot of requests from the DRCongo, Namibia and South Africa, which is why we have put the possibility in the plan to feed these markets,” he added.
During his speech, José Barroso said that the main concern of the Gas Master Plan was “to feed the Angola LNG plant,” while also utilising existing infrastructure.
“We have a gas pipeline network in the northern part, in Soyo, and it will be easier before we move to the south, to the east, for us to consolidate this hub in Soyo,” said José Barroso, while answering questions raised during the event.
José Barroso emphasised that building a second infrastructure would require investment and that in the event of a gas discovery, Angola LNG would be the priority.
“All the gas that Angola produces is associated with oil, and our concern to find more gas for Angola LNG is because, as oil production declines, so does the existence of gas,” he emphasised.
Angola LNG is currently operating at around 65% of its capacity, continued José Barroso, adding that both the state and the consortium aim to find more gas for the plant.
“All the planning that is being done with the new gas consortium, which includes almost all of Angola LNG’s partners, is to really prioritise gas,” he said.
Angola LNG, in Soyo, is Angola’s first Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant, commercialising the associated gas resulting from oil exploration by the oil companies operating in that region of northern Angola.
Asked if there would be tax incentives for this area, the Angolan minister advocated the creation of a competitive regulatory framework to attract investment.
“Unfortunately, we have a bad habit in our sector of talking about tax incentives, I don’t believe we should talk about tax incentives, we should talk about a fiscal framework,” he said.
“Today we compete in oil and gas with other markets, and our goal is to create a framework that allows the premises raised here for the Gas Master Plan to materialise,” he said.
