French oil and gas giant, Total, has announced that for the next 20 years, the Djeno terminal in the Republic of Congo is to be managed by the company. Total was able to secure the deal although the Congolese government wanted to make the terminal state-owned.

The government had earlier announced that it wanted to nationalise the terminal to enable it to choose its operators. The government wanted to open up the capital of the terminal more widely to gain more profits.

While making the announcement a few days ago, the Chief Executive Officer of Total, Patrick Pouyanné said, “we have agreed to renew the concession for the Djeno terminal, which is Total’s historic anchor in Congo, for 20 more year. It will be shared between various companies and Total will be one of the shareholders.”

The Djeno terminal is where all the oil from the Republic of Congo is stored. It is located in Pointe-Noire and it is said to be nerve centre of oil activity in the country. It was constructed in 1972 by Total, and the French company has always held a large share in the management of terminal which it does alongside Italian oil and gas company, Eni. All shipments of oil extracted in the country are stored at the terminal first before being exported.

The terminal can accommodate Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) vessels with the typical cargo size being 920,000 barrels. For now, neither the date of the agreement signing nor the clauses have been made known to the public.