The Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Hydrocarbons announced that the upcoming 2025 licensing round will focus on onshore blocks in the country’s continental basin. The announcement was made by Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, Minister of Hydrocarbons of the Republic of Congo, during a ministerial panel discussion at the inaugural Congo Energy & investment Forum in Brazzaville. CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor caught up with the minister on the side-lines of the Congo Energy & Investment Forum.
The Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Hydrocarbons announced that the upcoming 2025 licensing round will focus on onshore blocks in the country’s continental basin. The announcement was made by Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, Minister of Hydrocarbons of the Republic of Congo, during a ministerial panel discussion at the inaugural Congo Energy & investment Forum in Brazzaville. CNBC Africa’s Kenneth Igbomor caught up with the minister on the side-lines of the Congo Energy & investment Forum. This forum is very important because it is organised by somebody who is known as one of, I think, the best organisers of events in oil and gas in Africa, maybe, maybe, why not anywhere else, Energy Capital and Power, they have an event in Cape Town, Africa Energy Week, which is now really, I think, the best one in terms of oil and gas events in Africa, so we decided to choose the best one to bring all, you know, access to oil, gas, investors, companies, not only in Africa but even outside of Africa, this is the first thing. The second one, to bring also, you know, the knowledge, to bring also the right people to speak with us, to speak to the investors, to speak about us, and not only the ministry and people of ministry, you know, it's easy for me to say that my country is the best one, but if Standard & Poor's say that, it's quite different, so this is the second reason. In the same time, as you can see, we're speaking either in English or French, this makes also a big difference. Speaking only in English, you can't have interpreters, you can't have translators, it's not the same thing, it's not really the same thing. It's an opportunity to show, yes, that Congo is a small country, but as somebody says, it's not that Congo is one, somebody from IOC, International Oil Company says, Congo is small but the potential in terms of oil opportunities is scandalous, that's what he says. So we have to show it, we have to inform people about this, and this is an opportunity to do it, and we have to do it as much as we can do it. Because for us at CNBC Africa, it's important that we put a spotlight on the sector and understand how this is growing here in Congo, and I understand that as part of this forum, there's going to be a deal room session, because we're interested in investment and what is coming in there. What's the makeup of the deal room, and what areas are we seeing that need more exploration or more downstream, speak to us on what we can expect from the deal room. Today, you know, the big battle is the debate we have about energy transition, based on what some people are saying that we should stop investing in fossil energy, and especially oil. And we are more and more pressured by banks or on banks, on the companies even, to stop big projects, new projects, just to run current projects, and then maybe why not stop it. So we have to make the promotion of the opportunities we are still available, the need of doing that, the need of investing, because we need to invest, to remain investing in oil and gas, because if we stop investing in oil and gas, everything will collapse, really, even the world will collapse. You're talking about the just transition for Africa. Yeah, just about what we're talking about. We see that IOCs are more and more interested in deep water areas, because that's where we think that we can have big discoveries. And they are more interested in big discoveries, because even the cost can be higher, even it can require more technology constraints, but you have more chance to have big discoveries, and then I think for them it's an adequate target they can have. This is the first thing, deep water. Surprisingly, in Congo, we see so much interest of companies for that area, it's really just surprising, because most of them are now leaving Africa, leaving some countries, but here in Congo, we see increasingly interest on deep water areas, so the first area we're promoting is deep water. The second one is onshore. If we think that there is any chance of having potential onshore, which is easier to access, is very cheap in terms of production, this is the second target. The third one is marginal feed. This is more for medium-sized and small-sized companies, but we need everything to be done in terms of increasing the production, and there are some companies specialized for this kind of opportunities. Marginal feeds, old feeds, they have the knowledge, they have the track record, everything for that, and they're doing very well for that. Those are the three things, but the big challenge now is gas, and we have huge potential of gas. We take this opportunity to say that we already have an ongoing project, like with E&I, a big one, we have a second one also starting, maybe we'll have a third one before the end of the year, so that's the opportunity for gas, because gas now is a clean energy, it's now agreed by everyone that it's a clean one. And we want to take the opportunity also to talk about downstream, because downstream is related to access by the population to oil products, and this is a big challenge. We're talking about energy security, energy access, and it's a big concern for us, it's a big challenge for us, so almost everything can be targeted here in this conference. Because now I'm thinking about local content, it's good to see the IOCs coming there, but the long-term vision of your industry is to see that the local players can take on the big task in the industry, so that we can maximize and capture value in your country. I'd like you to speak to what we're seeing in that area of local content development here in Congo. We didn't want to speak too much about that, maybe it wasn't a good choice. It will be said, I think we will raise this issue also of local content, because we had a big conference some months ago, a big one, and we'll have a second one in October with APO, which we say is not local content, it's African content. That's why maybe we think we need to focus on the other issues, but yes, yes, local content is a key issue. One day, maybe we will have no one interested in producing oil and gas in our countries, and it will be amazing if we don't have anyone, if we don't have local companies able to do that. It will be a disappointment if we have the oil, we have gas, we have the potential, we have no one able to do that. So, we're making even pressure on the national oil company, because local content first is national oil company, and the local private companies to be able to operate, to operate, not being just parts, having equity, they have revenues, they go to the beach. No, what you want is, you want them to become really industrial companies, able to operate, supposed to have a big program, that's what you're trying to build. Everything which is done in order to promote developing Africa, developing the key point which can, you know, bring that development, are interesting for the countries, are interesting for the population. I think, yes, feedback is a good one, yes.
Theme: The Importance of Investment and Development in Congo's Oil and Gas Sector
The Republic of Congo's Ministry of Hydrocarbons recently announced the focus of the upcoming 2025 licensing round on onshore blocks in the country's continental basin. The announcement was made by Bruno Jean-Richard Itoua, Minister of Hydrocarbons, during a ministerial panel discussion at the Congo Energy & Investment Forum in Brazzaville. The event, organized by Energy Capital and Power, aimed to bring together key players in the oil and gas industry from both Africa and beyond, highlighting the immense potential of Congo's energy sector. Minister Itoua emphasized the critical need for continued investments in the oil and gas industry, especially in the face of global discussions around energy transition and the future of fossil fuels. During an exclusive interview with CNBC Africa's Kenneth Igbomor, Minister Itoua shared insights on the key areas of focus for the sector's development. The minister highlighted the importance of deep-water exploration, onshore potential, and marginal fields, all while emphasizing the vast opportunities in gas exploration and downstream activities.
"If we stop investing in oil and gas, everything will collapse, really, even the world will collapse."
['Congo', 'Oil and gas sector', '2025 licensing round', 'Energy Capital and Power', 'Investments', 'Energy transition', 'Local content development', 'Deep-water exploration', 'Gas exploration']