According to the Secretary of State for Petroleum and Gas, José Barroso, speaking to the press yesterday in Luanda during the Public Consultation Session on the Gas Development Plan (PDG), the participation of natural gas in the country’s industrialization is still very incipient, hence the need to create a plan to reverse the situation. The PDG, he pointed out, is one of the premises of the National Development Plan for 2023/2027, which is also aligned with the long-term strategy “Angola 2050” whose goal is to create a more competitive and developed sector.
The government’s project will bring an inventory of gas reserves, with the objective of knowing the legal and fiscal framework that promotes the development of a gas industry, and also the definition of markets, in order to use the product that will be discovered to develop countries in the Southern region.
This is the consultation phase, and after completion, the document will be submitted for approval by the Angolan state’s legal bodies so that by the end of this year, the entire process is completed. The Secretary of State for Petroleum and Gas said that about 95% of the gas produced in Angola is destined for export. At the level of the SADC, there is a Master Plan for the distribution and consumption of gas, with Angola having the status of a gas provider for the region. The possibility of creating a gas pipeline between Angola and Zambia is being studied.
The proposal is being studied by the Zambian government, whose intention is the participation of private entities for the construction of a Lobito-Lusaka pipeline.
