Addis Ababa, September 21, 2022 (Walta) – Ethiopia terminates the operation license and contracts of the Chinese Oil exploration company, POLY-GCL.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Mines and Petroleum, Takele Uma, announced the termination of the contract with the company today.
In a letter of ultimatum sent to POLY-GCL Petroleum Group Holding Limited in March 2022, the Ministry issued a list of conditions to be met by the company.
By then, the Ministry warned the company that failure to comply with the ultimatum will result in the “termination of the PPSAs… without a need for further notice.”
“In accordance with the successive notices the Ministry has issued in the past and in full compliance with the PPSAs and the laws of the land, the termination has now been fully effected,” Takele said in post he made on his official twitter account.
“As long as the financing that would enable to develop the oil and gas fields the Ministry is open for mutual and expeditious settlement,” he added.
POLY-GCL has been exploring petroleum and natural gas in the Ogaden basin since 2013. On June 28, 2018 POLY officially started crude oil production tests in the Hilala oil fields.
The crude oil production test was hailed as important milestone in the history of the oil and gas development in Ethiopia.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced that 450 barrels would be produced on a trial basis at the time the test production was announced.
Four years later since the announcement of the resumption of the trial production, the ministry issued a warning letter to the company citing its failures to meet the project time table.