Sao Tome and Principe and Equatorial Guinea have confirmed the creation of a special maritime zone for joint exploration to develop transboundary oil and gas reserves, it was reported on Wednesday, 18 March. The decision was taken during a meeting this week in Malabo between the Minister of Public Works, Infrastructures, Natural Resources and Environment of São Tomé and Príncipe, Osvaldo Abreu, and the Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea, Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima. This is a step forward that reinforces the cooperation efforts of the two countries, which initiated the first contacts in this direction in the early 2000s. According to the indicative timetable communicated, offshore exploration operations could start as early as October 2020.