JOHANNESBURG (AND Network) – South Africa's oil company, PetroSA, will opened an office in Equatorial Guinea this month to offer support for the exploration of an oil concession the company has acquired.

The company made the announcement in Johannesburg on Friday. The office will be the company's first office outside of South Africa.

PetroSA is a 45% partner in a joint venture with the National Oil Company of Equatorial Guinea holding 25%.

PetroSA bought a 2 167 square kilometer 'Block Q' oil exploration concession - in Equiatorial Guinea - in November 2004, and the terms of a production-sharing contract call for an initial exploration period of three years.

The Block Q development budget for 2006 is estimated at $67 million, of which the exploration well to be drilled will account for $50 million. PetroSA has so far spent $15 million on the development of Block Q.

The company also has a global presence. PetroSA Europe opened its office in Rotterdam in May 2004, and sales of petrochemicals have already been significantly boosted through this direct market presence.

In its annual report 2005, the company said that it has the necessary approvals to upgrade its presence in Houston from a single representative to a fully-fledged local operation, which it plans to do by the end of 2005.

The group furthermore aims in due course to establish a permanent presence in London and Houston, which are the centers for E&P deal flow in Africa and worldwide. In March 2005, a joint-venture technology company was established with Statoil and Lurgi in Switzerland to market and license the new low-temperature Fischer Tröpsch technology in which PetroSA will together with the joint venture partners hold the patent rights.

The company is called GTL.F1, and it will serve to market and license the technology to envisaged GTL project clients. Upon PetroSA's formal joining the company, anticipated in due course, it will commit to start-up costs for its 37.5% equity share of the company.

With a view to future involvement in large-scale GTL plants, Lurgi has been appointed as a long-term engineering partner and the joint venture company is engaging with Johnson Matthey as a partner in a future catalyst manufacturing company.