Africa-Press – Angola. The Angolan presidency of the Organization of African Petroleum Producing Countries (APPO) brings together, today, in Luanda, institutional and business leaders from the continental hydrocarbon industry, at the 43rd Ordinary Meeting of Petroleum Ministers of the Member States, to adopt a common strategy for the energy transition.
The announcement was made in a statement issued yesterday by the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas (MIREMPET), a fact also confirmed by the micro-program Ngol.
According to this last source, in one of the main approaches, the meeting will focus on the exploration of the continent’s hydrocarbon reserves and the creation of markets for the commercialization of oil, gas and its derivatives in a context marked by the energy transition, a concept that replaces the use of fossil fuels with clean sources of energy.
APPO members consider that the energy transition must be “fair” and that they must use fossil fuels to finance the energy transition, a thesis raised last May, in Lunda, at the beginning of the Angolan presidency of the organization.
Quoted by the radio program, the member of the Executive Council of APPO and governor of Angola at the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Estêvão Pedro, said that the meeting’s agenda includes discussions on the future of the African oil and gas industry in light of of the energy transition, being the second time that, after May, the debate is raised in the Angolan capital
Challenges in the Oil & Gas sector such as the creation of a bank dedicated to financing energy projects in Africa, the construction of infrastructures, the execution of cross-border projects and the introduction of new technologies will also deserve a detailed analysis at the meeting of the continental organization which, until May 2023, is led by the head of MIREMPET, Diamantino Azevedo.
Estêvão Pedro, who is also a consultant to the Minister of Mineral Resources, Oil and Gas, recalled that Sonangol took the lead in the Meeting of Chairmen of the Boards of Directors of African Oil Companies, on 10 October this year, replacing Nigeria, during the 3rd Ordinary Meeting of National Oil Companies of APPO Member States, which Luanda hosted.
The official recalled that, on the sidelines of the 8th Oil and Gas Congress and Exhibition, held last May, in Luanda, the 42nd Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Ministers and several statutory technical meetings took place, with emphasis on the Executive Council Meeting, the 1st Forum of National Petroleum Companies of APPO member countries and the Inaugural Meeting of the Committee for the Development of the First Long-Term Strategy of the APPO.
The Ordinary Meeting of Ministers of Petroleum, recalled, “analyzes the deliberations of the 3rd Ordinary Meeting of the Chairmen of the Boards of Directors of national oil and gas companies, held in Luanda”.
The APPO Council of Ministers will be informed of such deliberations and will issue a resolution on the forum’s exemplary commitment and what national companies should do to support the governments of their respective countries.
The long-term strategy, under preparation, represents a directive to be presented at this meeting, so that national companies have an important role to play based on the guidelines presented by the Council of Ministers, he stressed. Stephen Peter.
Common strategy
The source added that the approval of the strategy of the APPO Member States, based on the premises of sustainable development, will be one of the outstanding moments during today’s meeting, in which the presidents of the Boards of Directors will be called, with a view to guaranteeing the implementation of this instrument.
“The Meeting of the Chairmen of the Boards of Directors focused on the energy transition, which is why the meeting of ministers will not lose sight of the aforementioned topic. The energy transition is a fact and the APPO member countries will seek to discuss solutions with a view to consolidating or define the speed and strategy for triggering this process, without pressure from external forces, but within the principles of COP 21”, defended Estêvão Pedro.
He recalled that Egypt will soon host COP 27, in which the APPO member countries intend to find a consensual resolution to guide the negotiations, adding that everything goes through a process that must complete different stages.
“If we look at the main achievements of Sonangol and other national oil and gas companies from APPO member countries, we can see that some signs are already visible regarding the implementation of these principles”, concluded Estêvão Pedro.
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