The heads of state and government of the Community of Portuguese-Language Countries (CPLP), meeting in Dili on Wednesday at the organisation’s 10th summit, approved a resolution to create an expert group to establish a CPLP consortium for oil and gas.
According to the text of the resolution, which Lusa has seen, the CPLP leaders approved a proposal from East Timor to set up a Technical Study Group, open to participation by member states, for the joint exploration and production of hydrocarbons in members’ territory. The resolution states that the group will function in the “ambit of the periodic meetings of CPLP oil ministers, in line with the guiding framework for ministerial meetings.”
The text cites what it describes as the “enormous potential for cooperation in the context of the CPLP, namely in what concerns the articulation of a joint vision of its energy dimension, aimed above all at reinforcing the community’s importance in this specific sector.”
Combined oil and gas reserves in CPLP members’ territory would, the resolution notes, make it the seventh largest producer in 2015 and the fourth largest in 2025.
Earlier, the heads of state and government agreed to admit Equatorial Guinea as a full member of the CPLP. The West African country is one of the continent’s largest oil producers.
The other members of the organisation are Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, East Timor, Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal and Sao Tome and Principe.
MSE/ARO // ARO.
http://www.peprobe.com/new/cplp-summit-approves-creation-of-group-to-establish-cplp-oil-gas-consortium