Petroleum Africa
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Thursday, May 29, 2014
Gabon’s state-run oil and gas firm, Gabon Oil Company (GOC) is looking to garner a bigger share of the crude pie. The company is looking to pick up new oil assets and market a bigger portion of the country’s crude oil as part of its efforts to accomplish its goals, to its CEO Serge Toulekima. The CEO told Reuters that GOC was looking to grow in an effort to compete alongside international oil firms.
“Our strategy for growth is based on acquisitions and on going after marginal fields and going after permits that expire as well as exploration,” Toulekima told Reuters on the sidelines of the New York Forum that took place in Libreville. He said the company was currently in talks to secure financing with a London-based bank to acquire an oil permit and hoped to finalize the deal this year.
For future exploration permits, GOC will negotiate to acquire the assets from the state and then seek partners to take a share in exchange for help in funding exploration.
GOC’s other goal is to increase its share of the country’s oil sold on international markets. Last year, it sold 10 cargos, or around seven million barrels, and this could be boosted to around 14 cargos, or nine million barrels, next year. “We need to increase our volumes for marketing. We are in discussion with various companies to see if we can market their share of the oil in all the permits where they are present,” he said.
GOC is a relative newcomer to the African NOC game, only being established by presidential decree in 2011, and will have a long row to hoe before it reaches international competition standards. Currently the company is not an operator of any field but it does plan to restart production at an abandoned field called Remboue in Q4.
The company also has downstream aspirations and plans to become involved in oil refining and has signed a contract with Samsung C&T for the construction of a new refinery. The new refinery, once built, will have a capacity of 60,000 bpd and be located in Port-Gentil.
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