The Guinean Government expects the first oil prospecting hole in the country to be drilled next July, if everything goes as planned, the Minister of Natural Resources of Guinea-Bissau, Malam Sambú, announced yesterday.
Former ambassador of Guinea-Bissau to China for many years and former Minister of Fisheries, Sambú told Lusa that the drilling work “is on track” and that this week he will meet with the company that will carry it out.
“We are focused on drilling the first oil exploration hole in July this year”, noted the minister, in an interview with Lusa to provide an overview of the situation in the Guinean Natural Resources sector. Malam Sambú said he had given orders to Petroguin, the Guinean state-owned hydrocarbons company, so that “no engineer in the oil sector has the right to vacation” before drilling the hole.
“After drilling the first oil hole, anyone who wants can go on vacation,” said the official. Malam Sambú emphasized the fact that he is concerned regarding the ongoing preparations, particularly the logistics being set up by the company, which he preferred not to identify at this time.
For several years now, Guinea-Bissau has been experimenting with the idea of moving towards drilling in places offshore where oil is believed to exist, a situation that Sambú hopes will come to fruition “this time”. . Guinea-Bissau has 14 offshore oil blocks, 11 of which have licenses granted and five in the onshore (continental zone), two of which were in the licensing process in October 2020.
