Malabo's dash for gas in Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea has secured fresh supply for its LNG plant, but can it build on that success?

Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima is a big fan of natural gas. Equatorial Guinea's energy minister spends large chunks of his year travelling around the world proselytising on the potential of the West African producer—the smallest Opec member by crude output—to become a major gas export hub. He says he is taking his cue from Middle Eastern oil producers now focusing on gas as the fossil fuel of the future. But he is also well aware of the need to replace Equatorial Guinea's declining oil output from maturing fields with export earnings from new volumes. Crude output is running at around 113,000bl/d in 2019, compared to 120,000bl/d in 2018, according to the minister. He puts a positive spin on that,