In an executive decree published this Thursday in the Diário da República, signed by the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, Odebrecht, which holds a 15 percent participatory interest in the Block 16 production sharing contract, no longer fulfills the requirements required by law.
Odebrecht is "in a situation of non-compliance with the financial obligations related to the payment of its share of costs incurred by the contractor group" in the operations in this block, hindering "the normal execution of oil operations", the Government adds.
The non-compliance provides the national concessionaire with “just cause” to terminate the production sharing contract in relation to Odebrechet “with the consequent free reversion of the corresponding participatory interest for itself”.
Bearing in mind that the national concessionaire and Sonangol have waived the preemptive right over Odebrecht's 15 percent, this participatory interest will be transferred to Total E&P Angola Block16 A / S.
After the exclusion, the contractor group will have the following constitution: Total E&P Angola Block16 A / S, 65 percent, Total E&P Chissonga, Ltd, 15 percent and Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção, 20 percent.
Total is the main oil operator in the country, where other multinationals such as BP, Chevron and Eni are present.
In response, Odebrecht clarifies that its activities in the oil sector in Angola began in 2002, with the participation in 15 percent of the Consortium responsible for the exploration studies for Block 16. However, the company refers in a statement sent to VerAngola that , despite large investments over more than 16 years, Block 16 "proved to be outside the OEC business strategy in Angola for the following years, leading OOGA to initiate divestment negotiations that culminated in its definitive exit from investment in July 2019 ".
The company adds that the recently published Executive Decree "corresponds to a legal formality that reflects the closure of an OOGA investment cycle in Block 16, which was effectively formalized more than a year ago".
