. Yaluma

By JAMES KUNDA –
Government has engaged the globally renowned Oil and Gas Council on the prospects of the entity tapping into the lucrative Zambian petroleum sector.
Mines and Minerals Development Minister Christopher Yaluma met the Council, which comprises top petroleum industry stakeholders in London, United Kingdom (UK), on the sidelines of the just-ended Zambia mining investment conference.
The Council, which has 23 members, provides a forum where issues of the oil and gas supply chain are discussed.
It also advises the UK government on implementation of the industrial development strategy.
The meeting with Mr Yaluma discussed how the unit could collaborate with Zambia on exploring and extracting the vast petroleum resources in the country.
This is according to a statement released yesterday by first secretary for Press and public relations at the Zambian High Commission in the UK, Abigail Chaponda.
“The minister said exploration for oil and gas provides investment opportunities, adding that results from preliminary exploration works indicated that Zambia had vast potential in the sector.
“He encouraged the companies interested in the oil and gas industry to come to Zambia and explore the huge opportunities unfolding in the sector,” Ms Chaponda said.
Mr Yaluma held discussions with Rift Petroleum, a subsidiary of Tower Resources, which was among foreign entities already involved in oil and gas exploration in Zambia.
He also met Tullow Oil, a major oil exploration company with operations in Kenya, Uganda and Ghana, among other African countries, and was looking to undertake some oil exploration works in the country.
During the investment conference, Mr Yaluma assured international investors that Zambia was politically stable and that all foreign investments would remain safe even if the country was scheduled to hold general elections in August this year.
He said the investment climate in Zambia was characterised by a stable macroeconomic and political environment which guaranteed security for investment.
“The minister said Government recently adopted an articulate mining policy that provides for private sector-led investment in the exploitation of mineral resources.
“He said Zambia was also trying to diversify in all major sectors, including tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, energy and mining,” she said.
Mr Yaluma described the London meeting as a success, and expressed optimism that the indaba would attract more investments into Zambia to benefit the local people.