Harare – according to the Australian stock exchange Invictus Energy – found no oil and gas reserves in northern Zimbabwe on Friday, but there were references to a "functioning oil system" that could only be reinforced by a planned research facility.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa told reporters on Thursday that Invictus found oil and gas deposits in the Muzarabani area and agreed to conclude a production agreement with Zimbabwe after the project had reached commercial production.
Invictus, however, in his statement to the Australian stock exchange spared Zimbabwe's expectations of the oil spill that "no oil or gas discovery has taken place."
"The future resource estimation of the Muzaraban outlook is about unexploded accumulation that poses both the risk of discovery and the development risk," said Invictus.
"Although the Cabora Basin has all the elements of the petroleum system, discovery can only be proven by drilling a research drill."
Invited by Zimbabwe-born Invictus, Scott MacMillan, on Thursday attended Mnangagwa's press conference.
Winston Chitando, Miner Minister, said the well would cost $ 20 million in 2020 and said the Muzarabani project is the largest undrilled offshore resource in Africa.
Invictus, an independent oil and gas exploration company whose only asset is in Zimbabwe, uses the data used by Mobil Oil for the first time in the 1990s.
Chitando said that Invictus made a bigger move than Mobil because he knew better the Muzarabani basin that has a similar geological structure for Uganda and Kenya where oil is found.
The South African nation suffers from a dollar crunch that has fueled fuel shortages and the price of basic goods over the past few weeks.
Reuters
