Latest Equatorial Guinea consortium partner underscores global interest

27th November 2015

Latest Equatorial Guinea consortium partner  underscores global interest

SacOil CEO Thabo Kgogo

South Africa-based oil and gas producer SacOil’s entry as the fourth partner company to enter the Bioko oil terminal project signals the international interest in this facility, says Equitorial Guinea Mines, Industry and Energy Minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima.

The facility will meet the huge demand for petroleum storage in the Gulf of Guinea region and further reinforce Equatorial Guinea’s status as a major African oil and gas actor, and a highly attractive investment destination, he said.

T

he Equatorial Guinea government aims to establish the country as the premier storage location in West and Central Africa, and a dominant transit point for global oil and gas deliveries.

The country’s Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SacOil to join the Bioko oil terminal partners on October 30 in Cape Town.

“SacOil welcomes this opportunity to work with a strategic partner such as the Ministry of Mines, Industry and Energy to add [the required] oil and petroleum products storage capacity in West and Central Africa,” commented SacOil CEO Dr Thabo Kgogo.

The project, he notes, fits well with SacOil’s overall strategy of diversifying the business into midstream and downstream activities.

As part of the consortium, SacOil will work with African energy and infrastructure group Taleveras Group, global commodity traders Gunvor Group and the Strategic Fuel Fund to set up the Bioko oil terminal, which will be Africa’s largest tank farm in Punta Europa, Equatorial Guinea.

The SacOil MoU expands the scope of previous plans to develop the petroleum products storage facility and has established the terms of funding and initial development of the tank farm.

The terminal is expected to have a storage capacity of 1.2-million cubic metres for refined products and crude in its first two phases.

Phase 1 will have storage capacity of 680 000 m3 for refined products. The primary purpose of the oil terminal will be to supply inter- national markets with petrol, naphtha, diesel, Jet A-1 and fuel oil.