By Ndey Sowe
The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy has signed the deed of assignment and joint operating agreement with key partners for the effective operations of petroleum license.
The initiative was aimed at making the licence effective in the operations of the licensee. Gambia Government on 30th April 2019, announced it granted official operation license of offshore Block A1 to British Petroleum (BP) Exploration (Gambia) Ltd, a subsidiary of BP Exploration Operating Company Limited.
The signing was done by the Minister of Petroleum and Energy, Fafa Sanyang, the Managing Director of Gambia National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) Yaya F. Barrow and the British Petroleum Exploration (Gambia) Ltd representative Jonathan Evans Vice President of ‘Africa New Country’. The ceremony was attended by key government stakeholders and a delegation from British Petroleum (BP). It was held at Petroleum House in Brusubi on Tuesday 23rd July, 2019.
According to Gambia Government Officials, BP were supposed to meet certain conditions in a period of three months in order for the license to become effective.
Fafa Sanyang, Minister of Petroleum and Energy, said Government has entrusted 10% of its interest to GNPC. He reminded GNPC that they have been entrusted with a huge responsibility, and he hopes they (GNPC) will live up to expectation.
“I have to admit that it is reassuring to witness another modest but significant milestone accomplished in such a timely manner”, he said, adding signing these instruments is indeed an achievement.
Jonathan Evans, British Petroleum (BP) representative who doubles as Vice President of “Africa New Country” said: “We look forward to working with GNPC and will like to make BP global for development.”
Yaya F. Barrow, Managing Director of Gambia National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) said the day marks an important milestone for Government and GNPC.
“The document we just signed today is a realization of years of hard work, dedication and focus by the Corporation and Stakeholders in the petroleum industry”, he noted.
He said GNPC as the national oil company of the Gambia; will continue to harness the human resource potential of the country.
He further stated GNPC must take a huge leap from the norms and the signing of the Joint Operating Agreement (JOA), which he said will serve as an unprecedented occurrence and this is the beginning of more leaps to take.
He gives assurance that GNPC will enforce its mandate, develop its capacity and participate fully in the development of the industry across the value chain of the exploration, development, and production of oil.
He assured that GNPC will work fhand in hand with BP Exploration (Gambia) Ltd, to realize the great potentials of Block A1. He continued, “we verily understand that working with BP also gives us a unique opportunity to further understand the industry and grow with it.
