The government, through the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, Carlos Zacarias, expressed optimism yesterday (Thursday 29) about the results of the oil surveys in the Area A6-C of the Angoche sedimentary basin, formally awarded to a consortium formed by the Italian multinational Eni and the Mozambican public company ENH..

"We are optimistic about the prospective results of the concession area," said Carlos Zacarias, quoted by the Savannah newspaperafter the signing of the concession contract for oil exploration and production in the Angoche sedimentary basin, northern Mozambique, between the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy (MIREME), Eni and ENH.

According to Carlos Zacarias, the results of the preliminary studies carried out in the Angoche sedimentary basin that have been achieved so far raise expectations regarding the operations that the consortium will carry out.

He went on to say that the commercial quantities of existing resources will depend on the quality of the concessionaires' complementary surveys in Area A6-C, in the Angoche sedimentary basin.

"We recommend that they comply with the work program established in the concession contracts, always obeying the oil and related legislation in force, particularly environmental legislation, in close collaboration with the INP [National Petroleum Institute, the sector's regulator]," he stressed, and called for the use of technologies with the least possible impact on the environment, to allow oil operations to coexist with other economic activities in a sustainable way, such as fishing and tourism.

For her part, Eni's director in Mozambique, Marica Calabrese, considered the carrying out of research operations in the area to be an important milestone in the history of the Italian multinational's presence in the African country.

"Eni believes very much in this country, this is going to be the beginning of another success," said Calabrese, noting that the Italian oil company began its operations in Mozambique when in 2006 it became involved in the search for natural gas in Area 4 of the Rovuma Basin, in the north of the country, and then with the start of the first production project in that region, Coral Sul.

(Photo DR)