Gazprom's chief executive, Alexander Dyukov, has announced that the company is currently in talks to conclude arrangements for a multi-billion oil exploration deal in Nigeria. He said that Gazprom would join Statoil’s deepwater exploration works, as it is looking to catch up with other international companies working in Africa.
Mohammed Bello, managing director of NiGaz Energy, a joint venture between Gazprom and Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said that the two companies have a vested interest in the Nnwa Doro block, which holds as much as five trillion cubic feet of gas. The negotiations are set to commence sometime next month.
“We are just starting to talk, the board has to decide. We have a meeting next month,” said Bello. Gazprom's oil arm, Gazprom Neft, is also said to be working on joint foreign ventures and intends to begin several projects overseas in the near future. The company’s purpose-devised plan states that Gazprom Neft intends to produce around 100 million metric tonnes of oil by 2020, with about 10 million metric tonnes to be produced abroad.
“We are expanding our production business abroad and planning to join several large foreign projects,” said Dyuko.
According to the company's deputy CEO, Boris Zilbermints, Gazprom also has plans to join Libya's Elephant project.
“We are planning to join the Elephant in late summer but we don’t plan to invest much, except the entry fee because the project has already been launched. We are currently negotiating with several other asset owners in Libya,” he said Zilbermints.
Source: Nigeria Daily Independent
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