ANPG, ReconAfrica Join Forces to Assess the Hydrocarbon Potential of the Etosha-Okavango Basin

The National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG), the Angolan National Concessionaire for the oil sector in the Upstream segment, signed today, Thursday, 17, a Memorandum of Understanding with the Canadian company Reconnaissance Energy Africa Ltd. (ReconAfrica), with a view to promoting exploration activities and economic development of hydrocarbon resources in the Etosha-Okavango basin.

The agreement is part of ANPG’s strategy to boost inland sedimentary basins and attract qualified foreign investment to the national oil and gas sector. The Memorandum of Understanding establishes the terms for conducting geological studies, acquiring 2D seismic data, geochemical analyses and collecting samples, all operations to be fully funded by ReconAfrica.

Under the terms of the signed Memorandum of Understanding, ReconAfrica is granted exclusive rights for a period of 24 months, with an implementation plan divided into two phases, the first of which involves technical activities and data collection and the second phase of in-depth analyses.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of ANPG, 
Paulino Jerónimo , highlighted the challenges and importance of Angola’s inland basins, stressing that they are far from the capital and the coastline, which makes their exploration demanding. According to him, the basins cover an area of ​​approximately 520 thousand square kilometers, with the Etosha-Okavango Basin accounting for around 300 thousand square kilometers.

“These are remote areas, such as the provinces of Cubango, Cuando, Cunene, Moxico Leste, Uíge, Malanje, Cuanza Norte, Lunda Norte and Lunda Sul. We also want to bring the oil industry there, which will clearly boost local development. To this end, we will continue to seek other investors. We will do our internal work to promote investment and all exploration activities will be conducted with full respect for national and international environmental standards, ensuring the preservation of ecosystems. We thank ReconAfrica for accepting this challenge of assessing the Etosha-Okavango basin ,” said Paulino Jerónimo.

For his part, ReconAfrica CEO Brian Reinsborough expressed enthusiasm for deepening collaboration with ANPG and reiterated continued interest in investing in Angola.

“I really look forward to investing in Angola. We are active here. We are active in other countries as well. We consider Angola a very attractive country to invest in, for a number of reasons. So, congratulations to the entire ANPG team for making this business environment very favorable to investors. We have been exploring onshore for a long time, so we know the logistics that are required. We understand that community involvement is necessary. We are happy to share this, because we have experience from seismic surveys done on the Namibian side” , he revealed.

It should be noted that ReconAfrica is a company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with a strong presence in the Okavango region of the Kalahari Desert, where it holds oil exploration licenses in both Namibia and Botswana. Its technical expertise and recent history of discoveries in that sedimentary basin position it as a relevant strategic partner for ANPG and for the good business environment that Angola offers.