LUANDA, Sept. 24 — Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) intend to boost their existing joint oil exploration project, officials announced here Wednesday.
The intention to advance cooperation was expressed during a meeting between Diamantino Azevedo, Angolan Minister of Mineral Resources, Petroleum and Gas, and visiting Didier Ntubuanga, the DRC’s minister of Hydrocarbons.
According to Azevedo, the oil exploration zone of common interest is a project that dates back a few years but has so far reaped few results.
“But we have done everything to bring greater dynamism so that we can effectively move on to project implementation,” Azevedo said.
Additionally, Azevedo said that “work is being carried out by teams comprising representatives of Sonangol (in Angola) and the national fuel company of the DRC on the marketing of petroleum derivatives between the two countries.”
Ntubuanga, for his part, considers the cooperation between the two countries as “very important.”
“Angola and the DRC are two sister countries, and with the experience of Angola in the area of hydrocarbons, if we get together, we can go further. For us, this meeting is very important and we are hoping for good results.”
Last year, the two countries created a joint technical committee dedicated to the common oil exploration zone. – Xinhua
Angola and DR Congo vow to speed up joint oil exploration
