Cape Town — Equatorial Guinea's Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, has ordered all energy operators in the country to cancel all contracts with U.S. based oil service company Subsea 7.
Lima, speaking at the South Sudan Oil and Power Conference in Juba, said the company has failed to comply with the government's local content regulations. "Every company operating in the country is obliged to comply with the laws designed to ensure that both investors and our citizens benefit.
The companies involved include Noble Energy, Exxon Mobil, Kosmos Energy, Trident, Marathon Oil Corporation and other operators. A compliance review of the entire sector led by the Director of National Content and outside legal advisors of the Ministry is ongoing and more companies might be added to the list.
Under the National Content Regulation of 2014, all agreements must have local content clauses and provisions for capacity building, with preference given to local or regional companies in the award of service contracts.
