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News and Events

  • 12 August 2021
  • By MOPE

PRESS STATEMENT A The Public Will Recall That The Government Entered Into A Petroleum Exploration Development And Production License Agreement With BP On The 30th April 2019 For The A1 Block.

PRESS STATEMENT A:  The Public Will Recall That The Government Entered Into A Petroleum Exploration Development And Production License Agreement With BP On The 30th April 2019 For The A1 Block.

The Public will recall that the Government entered into a Petroleum Exploration Development and Production License Agreement with BP on the 30th April 2019 for the A1 block. The Licence became effective on the 30th of July 2019 with an initial exploration period of 2 years ending 29th July 2021. BP’s obligations during this period included the requirements, amongst others, to acquire and reprocess 2D and 3D seismic data, conduct an Environmental Impact Assessment and drill one exploration well.  

Since the July 2019 effective date, BP had been performing the necessary prerequisite tasks/obligations in view of drilling an exploration well. In particular, BP acquired and reprocessed 2D and 3D data and conducted of an Environmental Impact Assessment.  However, the commitment to drill an exploration well remained outstanding.   In early 2020, Covid-19 struck, causing a drastic change in the Global Oil and Gas industry and leading BP to suspend plans to drill as earlier planned i.e. by the end of 2020. Furthermore, in July 2020, BP informed the Ministry that it would not be able to drill a well in the A1 Block due to a change in its corporate strategy towards low carbon energy.      

In accordance with the License terms, if there are unfulfilled obligations, BP will be obligated to pay to Government the difference between the agreed work commitment and the performed work commitment. Consequently, BP has agreed to pay to the Government the relevant outstanding amounts as well as the balances of Training and Resources and Rentals due to Government. Consequently, BP would have fulfilled all its License obligations and the A1 Block will revert to government free of all encumbrances. With BP’s exit, the A1 Block will now be on the market for licensing.

The Government wishes to seize this opportunity to thank BP for the collaboration in amicably settling the matter and wish them good luck in their new strategy focus, hoping to work with them in the future in some other ways.   The Ministry would like to thank the staff of the Petroleum Commission and GNPC who worked so diligently on this matter and our stakeholders, Ministries of Justice and Finance as well as our international partners including the African Legal Support Facility and the Consortium of Consultants (Addleshaw Goddard, DLA Pipers, Open Oil and Ric Weighman).

MOPE HOLDS VALIDATION WORSHOP FOR THE ENERGY EFFICIENCY DRAFT BILL

The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy hosted a validation workshop on the energy efficiency Law(bill) on May 18th 2023 at Tamala Beach Hotel. This workshop brought together relevant stakeholders from various ministries and organizations to discuss and dissect the bill.

Energy is a vital ingredient for the socioeconomic development of any country. Cognizant of this, the government of The Gambia, over the past years has been making significant efforts to provide reliable, adequate, affordable and sustainable energy services to its people. The successful implementation of the Energy efficiency bill is of great importance and a priority to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and to all stakeholders.

The formulation of the Energy efficiency bill is supported by World Bank Group and drafted by consultants from the Economic Consulting Associates (ECA) through the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy to develop and implement a comprehensive energy efficiency program for the country.

In the opening ceremony Mr. Matarr Touray, an Energy Specialist from World Bank, spoke on the numerous benefits of energy efficiency especially with the changing electricity tariffs and fluctuating exchange rates. Mr. Touray stated “The law has been developed to inherently feature local context and the development of a robust institutional framework to address pertinent issues as it relates to energy efficiency, these include issues of gender mainstreaming, financing mechanisms and data to ensure that the bill is adequately and appropriately imbedded within the sector”.

In her opening remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, Mrs Amie Njie Joof illuminated on the inefficient use of energy in our day to day lives, like leaving lights and air conditioners on in empty rooms, inefficient practices like these need to be curbed to ensure sustainable use of electricity.

The Permanent Secretary highlighted on the fact that resources are scares and that electricity is not provided to every community in the country, has resulted in the formulation of the policy on energy efficiency and conservation, which promotes the efficient and wise use of energy by every user, to save energy for use by others. As the saying goes, “energy saved is energy produced”.

 PS Njie also added that “since the promulgation of policies on energy efficiency and conservation as part of the National Energy Policy, numerous activities have been carried out on energy efficiency and conservation throughout the country.  Other activities include sensitization on energy efficiency and conservation, replacement of incandescent bulbs with LED bulbs and the promotion and distribution of improved cookstoves and rolling out the National Framework for Leapfrogging to Energy Efficient and Climate Friendly air Conditioners and Refrigerators Project. This project is intended to enhance energy efficiency in the country and ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions”.

The Permanent Secretary in her conclusion indicated that the Energy Efficiency Bill once enacted into law, will serve as the bedrock for the country’s energy management system in the country.