Norwegian Oil For Development In Madagascar

6.7 M adagas c ar Project:

Management of oil and gas in Madagascar Following an application from the President of Madagascar, dated 15.03.05, a delegation led by NORAD visited Madagascar in February/March 2006. The aim was to assess the possibility of conducting a project assisting the relevant authorities building their competence and capacity within the oil and gas sector. NORAD’s proposal regarding launching such a project was presented to the Oil for Development’s Steering Committee at its meeting 11.05.06. The Steering Committee approved the project, and asked NORAD to proceed with the work. 19.05.06 NORAD requested NPD to prepare a plan for a long term cooperation programme between Madagascar and Norway. Both environment and revenue management should be included as integral part of the cooperation programme as these elements are all parts of the scope for Oil for Development. The programme should indicate a time schedule as well as an overall budget. A Terms of Reference document was approved 15.08.06 detailing the coming activities and budget. The planning work should be based on: • the application received from the President of Madagascar dated 15.03.2005, updated 01.06.2006 • The report from the NORAD delegation to Madagascar 25.02. - 04.03.2006 • The Functional and Financial Review of OMNIS, 10.07.2006 • Petrad 2005 assessment of Madagascar Petroleum sector • NPDs own assessment of the requirements of • Ministry of Energy and Mines • Ministry of Finance • Office for National Mining and Strategic Industries (OMNIS) • BIANCO

Activities in 2006: NPD attended NORAD’s Fact Finding Mission to Madagascar in February/March together with NORAD and MPE. NPD organised a visit to Madagascar together with SFT and FIN in September for drafting the project plan. A series of meetings were held with OMNIS and various government institutions. NPD also attended the Strategic Decision Meeting (SDM) arranged by the Presidency. As preparation for the first offshore licensing round, two geophysicists from OMNIS spent 2 weeks at NPD in November/December to interpret the newly acquired regional seismic survey from offshore Madagascar. A management delegation from OMNIS and the Presidency also visited Norway for further detailing of the project plan and to have meetings with NPD, PSA and GRID, Arendal. OMNIS delivered a new project plan and a revised application for cooperation with Norway to the Norwegian Embassy in Antananarivo on 20.12.06. Contact: NPD: Mr. Gunnar V. Søiland, Project Coordinator, [email protected] OMNIS: Mr. Elisé RAZAKA, Director General, [email protected]

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Country facts: Official Name: Republic of Madagascar Capital: Antananarivo Chief of state: President Marc Ravalomanana Head of Government: Prime Minister Jacques Sylla Population: 18 595 469 (2006) Petroleum sector, key figures: Average oil production: none Annual gas production: none Organisation of the petroleum sector: OMNIS (Office des Mines Nationales et des Industries Strategiques) who reports to Ministry of Energy and Mines

6.7 Plans 2007 NPD will continue to play an active part in order to finalize the overall Programme Document. Based on this NPD and OMNIS will sign an Institutional Cooperation Agreement. Signing is expected in May 2007.The activities listed in the Terms of Reference document of August 2006 will be completed by first half of 2007, including both technical and legal support for the offshore round. An UNCLOS workshop is planned for March in Madagascar as preparation for sending a claim to UN for extension of the Continental shelf. The Petroleum Safety Authorities will arrange a workshop on Safety Audit methodology for OMNIS in

April and perform a joint audit towards Madagascar Oil later in the year. High level Training will be initiated and organized as Master degree education in Norway for selected staff at OMNIS and 8-week Petrad courses. NPD will select internally a Petroleum Advisor that will stay 2 years in Madagascar in the OMNIS office to ensure good cooperation between Norwegian and Malagasy institutions and ensure individual competence and organizational capacity building. The NPD advisor will commence her duties in Madagascar in June 2007. Activities on all the Programme elements will start fully during second half of 2007 and continue to 2011.

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Source: PetroView

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