Page 295 - ΝΑΥΤΙΚΑ ΧΡΟΝΙΚΑ - ΜΑΙΟΣ 2024

to allow all candidates and parties to participate recent years, TotalEnergies and Shell have made
in the electoral process and release all political discoveries estimated at 2.6 billion barrels, lay-
prisoners without restrictions or delay”. ing the foundations for African country to set up
In order to implement an orderly process fol- production in 2030.
lowing the expiration of General License 44, the OPEC+ would initially focus on getting Namibia
United States will issue a 45-day wind-down to join its Charter of Cooperation, a group that
license. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets engages in dialogue on energy markets. It is
Control also will consider requests for specific reminded that Brazil joined the Cooperation
licenses to continue activities beyond the end of Charter last January. However, high-ranking offi-
the wind-down period on a case-by-case basis. cials of the African Chamber of Energy stressed
“We will continue to support Venezuelans’ aspi- to Reuters that ultimately, OPEC+ is aiming for
rations for a more democratic, stable, and pros- Namibia’s full membership in the organisation.
perous Venezuela. We and our partners in the OPEC Secretary-General Haitham Al Ghais was
international community urge Maduro to uphold quoted as saying in February that the organisa-
all the commitments made under the electoral tion was holding talks with several nations on
roadmap established by the signatories of the joining the charter without naming them. Coin-
Barbados Agreement”, concludes the statement cidentally, however, Al Ghais, at that time, had
of the US Department of State. met with Namibia’s Minister of Mines and Energy,
Tom Alweendo, at a conference in Nigeria, where
Is Namibia the next OPEC+ member? the prospect of cooperation between OPEC and
The OPEC+ group, which in recent years has the African country under the umbrella of the
faced the withdrawal of Angola and other coun- Cooperation Charter was raised.
tries, is considering Namibia for possible mem-
bership as the African country’s oil output pros- EU oil import dependency at its highest in 2022
pects are excellent. The EU’s import dependency for the entire family
African industry sources told Reuters that in of crude oil and petroleum products surged to a

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