This article was originally published on the Africa Oil & Power website.

Equatorial Guinea’s Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons, H.E. Gabriel Mbanga Obiang Lima, has implored African National Oil Companies (NOC’s) to take ownership over domestic natural resources.

Addressing delegates at the African Petroleum Producers’ Organization (APPO) Cape VII Congress and Exhibition on Wednesday, the Minister issued a call to action to African NOCs, demanding that they be more proactive regarding exploration, development, and utilization of domestic natural resources.

“National Oil Companies need to wake up. National Oil Companies are in a coma,” said H.E. Minister Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima.

H.E. Minister Lima championed the value of joining international intergovernmental organizations, the need for the reform of APPO, and the necessity for African NOCs to protect, develop and defend their own resources.

“APPO needs to have teeth. We depend on oil. Other countries are telling us that we need to be using oil more responsibly. Who is going to defend our name? We have to do it ourselves. If someone else decides it is just solar or just wind, who of us is going to survive? I’m not going to survive with tomatoes and wind. Who is going to defend us?”

H.E. Minister Lima further highlighted his vision for the organization and his assessment of the untapped potential of resources on the African continent.

“One thing is clear. We need to make sure that we defend our product. Oil and gas has been very good for Equatorial Guinea. We have forward development thanks to oil. It wasn’t cocoa. It wasn’t international aid. It’s very important that African countries that have resources wake up. We are the only continent that is having discoveries after discoveries month after month. Senegal, Mozambique, Gabon, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea. The biggest resource in the world is in Africa.”

KeyFacts Energy Equatorial Guinea country page   l   KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Africa Energy Chamber