Angola has indicated readiness to contribute to the development of the oil sector in Namibia. The National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with its counterpart in the Republic of Namibia, Directorate of Petroleum Affairs (DPA in English, Directorum of Petroleum Affairs), during the international conference called NIEC (Namibia International Energy Conference) held in Windhoek, under the motto “Shaping the future of energy for value creation”.

The Memorandum of Understanding between ANPG and DPA aims to promote bilateral cooperation in the Oil and Gas sector between the institutions, based on mutual benefits between the two countries, strengthening and intensifying cooperation in the Oil and Gas Industry. Both parties have considered the need for sharing knowledge and training in operations for oil production, cowing to the competitiveness currently needed in the energy market in Africa, and the importance of developing local content, which involves ensuring that the dividends between the State and investors are distributed in a way that satisfies both parties.

“We are going to train the Namibians so that they can assume the responsibility of producing in Namibia. The training will not take place in an office, but in a task force because we have accumulated experience with different operators and we want to make use of this aspect to help in the training of Namibians. Remember that the national workforce in Angola is 80% and it is our expectation that Namibia will gradually reach this level” said the Chairman of the Board of Directors of ANPG, during the meeting.

After the signature of the MoU, the elaboration, approval and execution of the Action Plan is foreseen. This agreement is the result of the MOU signed between the Ministry of Natural Resources, Oil and Gas of Angola and the Ministry of Energy and Mines of the Republic of Namibia, on the 29th of November last year, during the Angola Oil and Gas Conference. The Angolan delegation, headed by the Chairman of the ANPG, was made up of the Executive Director, Belarmino Chitangueca, the Director of Negotiations, Alcides Andrade, the Coordinator of the Biofuels Nucleus, Vita Mateso, Exploration and Negotiation Specialists, Adriano Sebastião and Hermenegildo Buila, respectively , as well as technicians from various areas assigned to the Concessionaire.