Gasol plc is a company formed to exploit opportunities in integrated liquefied natural gas (LNG) in West and Central Africa through a strategy of acquisitions, investments and strategic alliances.
Gasol is a business development company. We are currently building strategic alliances to investigate the availability and accessibility of gas in the Gulf of Guinea; we have signed co-operation agreements with E.ON Ruhrgas, Electricite de France, Afren and Teekay to develop gas monetisation solutions.
LNG is natural gas that has been converted to liquid form for ease of storage and transport. The liquefaction process involves removal of certain components, and then condensation into a liquid at close to atmospheric pressure by cooling it to approximately −163 °C (−260 °F).
Floating LNG broadly consists of a barge and gas processing, liquefaction and storage facilities. It is used to target gas-fields, both on-shore or off-shore that are either too small or too remote to be developed economically using a land-based LNG plant.
We will experience the same risks as any energy player in Africa. The key risks are:
- Political risk – govt approvals and regulation, and an increasing agenda for governments to channel gas for domestic needs.
- Timings - Gas gathering by its very nature is more time consuming and involves multiple counter- parties, gathering a network of pipelines, etc, which take time to develop.
- Escalating cost of projects and tightness in contract labour markets.
A key part of our strategy is to mitigate/manage these risks (see Our Differentiators).
Gasol is providing a solution to the inherent problems of African gas, by providing much needed avenues of monetization, particularly of stranded gas assets.
Gasol’s advantages include:
- A strategy which focuses on the aggregation of smaller gas reserves.
- A strong management team with excellent experience in oil and gas in the region in general and LNG in particular.
- Leveraging the African relationships of the board and key management.
- Use of innovative technologies, which we are currently assessing and plan to utilize.
- Partnerships and alliances with companies along the value chain.
Senior management plus management and other employees at the moment hold 7% of the shares in options, with an allowance for it to increase to 17% in the future.
Gasol intends to be squeaky clean, with strong governance processes. This lies at the core of our values and is very important for us.
Whilst AIM companies are not obliged to comply with the Combined Code, the Continuing Board intend, so far as is practicable given the Company’s size and nature, to comply with the Combined Code. The Group also intends to comply with the principles of the Corporate Governance Guidelines for AIM Companies, so far as it is practical for a company of Gasol’s size. In addition, we intend to tie up with companies that require corporate governance standards to be high.