Speaking at the end of the signing ceremony, the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, Diamantino Azevedo, highlighted the importance of the project, having asked for "speed in its implementation so that it can be inaugurated in 2025", the year in which the country celebrates 50 years of national independence, says a statement sent to VerAngola.
In his speech, he informed that the project will create around 700 new jobs, of which 400 will be during the construction phase of the respective platforms and another 300 during the construction of the onshore gas treatment plant in Soyo.
"This project will allow the creation of 400 new jobs during the construction phase of the respective platforms, as well as 300 additional jobs during the construction of the onshore gas treatment plant, located in the municipality of Soyo, in the province of Zaire", he said the minister, mentioned in the statement.
"In addition, the New Gas Consortium foresees annual contributions to social projects of around two million dollars, from the date of production start and until the end of the concession period in 2056", he added.
"It is our conviction that increasing natural gas production will play an extremely important role in the country's economic and social growth", the minister also considered.
Last Friday, ANPG and the Novo Gas Consortium (composed of the companies Azule Energy - operator, Cabinda Gulf Oil Company, TotalEnergies Angola and Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção) signed a service contract with risk, as well as all commercial agreements auxiliaries necessary to stimulate the production of natural gas in the country.
In addition to Diamantino Azevedo, they were also present at the signing ceremony the Secretary of Petroleum, José Barroso, the president of the Board of Directors (PCA) of ANPG, Paulino Jerónimo, the president of Sonangol, Sebastião Gaspar Martins, as well as Adriano Mongini from Azule Energy, Christian Castro from Cabinda Gulf Oil Company and Martin Deffontaines, General Director of TotalEnergies in Angola.
Speaking at the opening of the ceremony, Paulino Jerónimo highlighted that the day represented "a milestone in the Angolan oil sector, because it marks the culmination of several years of intense negotiations that involved exchange rate, technical, economic and legal-fiscal aspects to ensure the precedent conditions".
The ANPG PCA also recalled that the aforementioned consortium "is the first project for prospecting, research, evaluation, development, production and sale of non-associated natural gas in Angola, being in line with Presidential Legislative Decree nº 7/18, of 18 May", reads the statement.
In turn, Adriano Mongini, CEO of Azule Energy, expressed pride with this development. "We are proud to announce this major development, which once again reflects our strong commitment to improving the country's position as a global gas producer. This project not only strengthens our position as a leader in energy production, but also strengthens our partnership with the Angolan Government in driving sustainable economic growth".
According to the statement, the aforementioned project will also contribute to mitigating the "operational risks of the Angola LNG plant, ensuring that it operates within its optimal levels of operational efficiency", as well as the production of natural gas will also make it possible to guarantee "the supply for domestic use, including the Soyo Combined Cycle Plant, and will promote self-sufficiency in the production of cooking gas, consolidating the country's energy security".
It is worth noting that this consortium began in 2017, having been "conceived with the objective of developing the non-associated gas fields discovered in Blocks 1, 2 and 3, as well as promoting exploration in the free areas of Blocks 2 and 3", having since the beginning, "the main objective is to supply gas not associated with the Angola LNG plant".
