Equatorial Guinea not fazed as duo eye exit

摘要

EQUATORIAL Guinea's Minister of Hydrocarbons, Gabriel Obiang Lima, is "not losing sleep" over the possibility that US players ExxonMobil and Marathon Oil may sell their Zafiro and Alba assets off Bioko Island and exit the country. Obiang Lima, responding to an Upstream question during a webi-nar on 27 April, said: "I will tell you, on that matter, I am not losing any sleep. I feel quite relaxed." Zafiro - whose Serpentina floating production, storage and offloading vessel has been hit by a Covid-19 outbreak - is covered by a production sharing contract due to expire in 2025, with the government and ExxonMobil in talks about an extension since at least 2016. Reports emerged before this year's oil price crash that Trident Energy - a partner in the Ceiba, Oveng and Okume fields off Bioko - was keen to acquire the asset, but its proposal did not find favour within government.