The Declaration of Malabo was published as the outcome of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) 5th Heads of State Summit held in Malabo from 26-29 November
The declaration was presented by Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea, and Yury Senturyin, secretary-general of the GECF.
The declaration outlines how GECF member countries can cooperate to secure a long-term and sustainable energy transition.
Drafted during a week of Ministerial and High-Level Ad Hoc Working Group meetings, the document reaffirms the importance of retaining sovereign rights of member countries over natural gas resources; securing an energy transition and meeting sustainable development goals; attracting investment to gas infrastructure projects; fostering coordination among GECF member countries; and establishing pricing mechanisms, among other major objectives.
Yury Sentyurin said, “One of the positions of the GECF is to specifically designate the terms and conditions of the contracts between producers and consumers. Our community insists that pricing connected to oil indexation should serve in favour of our member countries.
“Producers need to have a reliable flow of revenue to be able to ensure investment. With the connection between pricing and indexation, we try to ensure comfortable conditions for producers to ensure that their projects are implemented.”
The 5th Heads of State Summit represents the first time that the event was held on the African continent, reflecting increased efforts to attract African gas-producing countries to the organisation.
Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima said, “Mozambique and Tanzania have had huge gas discoveries…So many African countries have their resources and they need to learn to manage them by themselves. The objective of this summit is to attract more African countries. This increases our numbers. The future is gas.”
