Namcor has realised one of its strategic objectives of acquiring commercially viable producing assets outside the Namibia.
Namcor announced on its Twitter page that it was one of the successful bidders for exploration and producing blocks in Angola, after going through an extensive tender process, adding that ‘’Namcor has reached its target of acquiring producing assets’’.
In an Agencia Lusa news report on social media, Sonangol, Angola’s government-owned oil company, says it has sold eight Angolan oil concessions, ‘’in a limited public tender without mentioning the value of the deal’’.
The eight blocks in a partial sale of Sonangol’s participating interest were sold to five successful companies, including Namcor.
For block 23 which is already in exploration, Namcor was selected together with Sequa and Petrolog with a combined 40 percent stake and Afentra taking another 40 percent. In Block 27, Namcor, Sequa and Petrolog hold a 35 percent stake with Somoil and Sirius with 25 percent.
Sonangol says the companies that presented values that were closest to those set in the tender conditions of the sale of the blocks were selected.
“The partial alienation of participating interests in the oil concessions is part of Sonangol’s strategy for repositioning and sustainability of its investment portfolio,’’ Sonangol says in a statement.
In a recent interview with the Windhoek Observer, Immanuel Mulunga, the MD of Namcor said time has come to prepare the company to grow into a world class petroleum company, saying the it is ready to spread its wings into prospecting.
The acquisition of the assets in Angola is part of the growth strategy to transform Namcor into a complete petroleum company in both up- and downstream economies, including retail.
He encourages Namibians to start acquiring specialised skills in the petroleum industry, saying Namcor is already spending time in laying the foundation to prepare the company for the expected growth. He said during the interview earlier this year that they have ‘’assembled a team that we belief will ensure a soft landing towards our vision of becoming a world class petroleum organisation, which delivers returns on the nation’s oil and gas potential for the benefit of all stakeholders’’. This preparation, he said, is done through attaching its staff for skills transfer programmes as part of its farming out agreements.
Special skills are needed to execute the strategic initiatives outlined in Namcor’s strategic plan and these would be developed through the attachment of staff to its exploration partners, Mulunga told the Observer at the time.
Namcor has so far limited its involvement in the oil industry to farming out its interest in Namibian oil blocks and in the downstream industry of storing and retail of fuel.
