Sonangol celebrates this year its 25th anniversary. Can you briefly tell us what have been the main achievements of your company over the years?
First of all I have to say that we feel happy to assure the production on behalf of the State and also to assure our partners that they can keep working with us in a safe and sustainable environment. But most of all, our great achievement is our labour force capacity as a result of a long term investment in training and encouraging people to grow.
Mr. John Brown, CEO of BP Amoco recently told you: "Our biggest project is to invest in our Angolan staff". How important is it for you to upgrade and increase the "local content" of your output?
Actually, this statement from John Brown complies with our efforts in this field, and we hope that other companies will follow this example. Investing in the Angolan human resources is our priority. We need to invite foreign companies to build up, but above all, we would like them to create Angolan companies. We want BP, Texaco, Total-Fina-Elf, Exxon to be present in the market and providing job opportunities to our Angolan staff.
Is this a condition prior to any joint-venture project with a foreign company?
If foreign companies want to help us in the creation of a sustainable development of the Angolan society, they have to count on the local staff. I cannot believe that a company can stay here for so long only with expatriates.
This is the only way to train people and to rebuild the Angolan industry, because oil is the main source of development of our country, and we have to take advantage of it. Our objective is to increase the local content of our output, by employing local staff and subcontracting to local companies. Today, this "local content" may be around 10 or 15% and that is certainly not enough.
What is your target?
The ideal would be 100%, but let's go step by step; let's first set the basis that will lead us to this goal. Reaching a high percentage only depends on the capability of the Angolan people. If we do not have a developed industry we have to go for it, and make things happen.
In 1999 Sonangol started its operations in the ultra-deep water exploration (1500-2500 m.), and the company is now getting involved in ultra-ultra-deep water exploration (+ 2500m.). How would you evaluate the potential of this new phase, and what is your time frame?
We started with shallow waters, before moving into deep-water; then, after lots of studies, we are now starting ultra deep exploration hoping to start drilling next year. However, we have first to consolidate deep-water utilities. We are developing Block 14 with an early production system; in Block 17 we hope to get oil this year, and we are presently discussing the development modalities for Block 15. Ultra deep requires new technologies, and we have to wait and see what happens. We are sure we will succeed in the future, but our major challenge is to consolidate deep-water exploration and production.
In this consolidation process, it would be difficult not to mention Block 3 and Canuku...
Indeed, we hope to start developing Canuku in October.
As you know, Sonangol E&P (Exploration and Production) is our arm branch. I don't know if the Minister, Mr. De Vasconcelos, told you but Sonangol plays both roles, as an oil company and as a concessionaire, representing the Government's interests. From the oil perspective, we will associate with foreign companies, but we are also trying to operate on our own. As a concessionaire, we try to push companies towards better performance, lower costs and higher profits in order to get taxes for the government and revenues for the national economy.
Sonangol is currently working on two major projects, the Lobito refinery, and the LNG complex, estimated at US$ 6 billion. How would you evaluate their impact on the Angolan economy?
We have a high level of unemployment and criminality; the only way to solve that issue is to create job opportunities for the people. With the LNG project, we are talking about 4,000 direct jobs and other 6,000 among our suppliers. This is a long-term project that will bring immediate revenues to the government; so will the refinery, which will not only respond to the southern-African regional needs but also worldwide as it will have the capacity to refine 200.000 barrels per day. Selling the petrol refined instead of mere crude oil will bring extra revenues to the government. | Have you managed to find any partner for those two projects?
For the refinery we do not have partners yet, we have received proposals of partnership and we are considering them. For the LNG, we are trying to get the agreement from the Government and after that we will select the partners. We want the major companies to be involved in these projects, and we are creating the adequate environment to improve synergies. Texaco, which is part of the JV for the LNG project, is a pioneer in this sector. When we started talking about developing gas here, they were the only ones that showed up; having said that, the merger between Chevron and Texaco cannot be left aside. We cannot move forward without the efforts of all the operators, and we have to be altogether in such an important project.
Let's move to your downstream operations. After Portugal, Cape Verde and Sao Tome, what measures have you taken to establish Sonangol abroad as a distributor?
The steps undertaken so far represent what we call "the way Sonangol is trying to lock the risks" because, as an oil company, you cannot concentrate all your activities in one field. That is the reason why we are investing outside and moving forward to other places where we can find opportunities in terms of downstream and upstream operations. The world is becoming a global village and companies are getting closer and closer, often reaching merger agreements. We intend to compete on that market and in order to do so, we have to get organised to be able to play in that league.
Angola has not expressed its intention to join OPEC despite several propositions from member countries. What is your position regarding this issue?
The situation in this country is difficult. There is no industry and the mines are completely broken down, the only thing working properly is the oil industry. The Government must take advantage of this fact. We know that joining OPEC will bring exchange of experience and know-how from producer countries. We support all these trends in terms of security and improvements in the prices. But we have our own reality and we need secured revenues to reconstruct the Angolan industry. In the future we will be glad to discuss the advantages and disadvantages of joining the OPEC but for now we have to look at the situation in the country, we have to put all our efforts in its development, and I believe everybody understands our point of view.
In a few words, when comparing with neighboring countries, what does Angola have to offer to our readers?
There is no doubt that we need to improve our legal framework with foreign investors but when you compare Angola with other investment destinations, I would say that this is a paradise. Angolans are known to be tough negotiators but everybody knows that when we sign an agreement we respect it. My advice to your readers is to forget the fears because there is a real good environment in Angola for them to invest.
On a more personal level, we wonder how an Electro-technical engineer, former football player and former teacher becomes Director of the most important company in the country...
The historical trend of the company is accepting challenges. In Angola 75% of the people are illiterate, so it is up to our generation to solve the problems in the country and that is why we accept responsibilities from a very young age. As there is a lack of expertise here, the few of us, who had the education and the necessary knowledge, had no choice but to take the challenge of running the country. When comes the time of facing difficulties I am glad to say that we cope with challenges and I am very proud of saying that a key point of Sonangol is the high competence of our 5,000 workers. A good training is the key to success. |
