It is essential to provide funding for technical oil training programs so that current prospecting work and the management of future contracts in Mozambique can continue, the country's natural resources minister has claimed.

Speaking in Pemba, Esperanca Bias told reporters that the country needed to develop a strong training infrastructure in areas such as geological and geophysical analysis.

"Training national technicians and boosting the institutional capacity of Mozambican entities linked to the oil sector is part of the responsibility of companies," she insisted.

Macau Hub reports that she went on to claim that the ministry is working hard to offer robust national training and development programmes at a range of educational institutions throughout the country.

Ms Bias said that the country had in the past relied on training programmes in operation in resource-rich and skills-rich countries such as Angola, Norway and Finland.

Elsewhere, Your Oil and Gas News reports that the board of directors of the African Development Bank has recently approved a $150 million (£97.2 million) funding programme designed to boost infrastructure and alleviate poverty through the development of the Hasdrubal Oil and Gas field 250 east of Tunis.

Employees in Tunisia and Mozambique are both expected to benefit.

Oil & Gas Directory: Training & Development