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Writes Lloyd Rabaya
Australian-based Invictus Energy, which is prospecting for oil and gas in the Caborra Bassa basin/Muzarabani, is looking forward to turning the Zambezi Valley into an urban centre with vast means of production.
Invictus Energy started its journey in the rural community in 2018 after discovering that the area had huge deposits of hydrocarbons.
Last year, the company started rigging at Mukuyu-1 which showed deposits of hydrocarbons after their seismic work, but later closed after the site collapsed. They had dug to about 4 kilometers.
Speaking to Spiked Online Media on the sidelines of a tour at their Mukuyu-2 Rig Site, GeoAssociates, Invictus Energy’s subsidiary, and the mining license-holder’s Managing Director, Paul Chimbodza, said as soon as production starts, that will mark a turn to the outlook of the area.
“We envisage that this will be the hub of oil and gas-linked activities. We talk about gas to electricity, and also the potential for gas to liquid. These are huge multi-billion dollar projects. People in the cities will migrate to this area,” he said.
Already engaging in various Corporate Social Responsibility projects, Invictus Energy envisages the community to be a modern city with vast means of production for the betterment of the livelihoods of the locals and the nation at large.
Currently, the company has already resuscitated once-dilapidated clinics and boreholes as well as building new ones for the enhancement of health and hygiene for the local people.
“We are looking at huge game-changers like vocational training, hospitals, schools among other huge infrastructure development projects turning this rural community into an urban center; not only urban but more productive centre.
“We are also toying with the idea of this being a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) with all the attendant incentives that come with a SEZ. So far under the water and hygiene component, we have worked at close to 20 borehole sites, about 4 clinics and we have done an excess of probably 200m of road rehabilitation and the exercise is still ongoing,” added Chimbodza.
District Development Coordinator (DDC) for Mbire, Richard Maruta, was more than grateful for the CSR projects happening in his district courtesy of Invictus Energy even before production begins.
“Through their CSR, they have attended to water issues in our clinics and they have also attended to road repair. We really appreciate their coming on board because, of course, there are going to be benefits for the whole nation but for the locals there already is a lot happening at the stage of exploration,” he said.
Invictus is hoping to start the rigging process at their Mukuyu-2 in a few days to come as the rig and all the equipment required are already on site.