Own Correspondent| The ZANU PF controlled media misled the nation when they claimed that party leader Emmerson Mnangagwa has confirmed an oil discovery.
The flashing screamer read as below:”ED CONFIRMS OIL, GAS DISCOVERY” 
The Invictus Energy contracted by Mnangagea has since issued a disclaimer saying the media reports regarding oil and/or gas discovery that has been made in the Muzarabani Area in northern Zimbabwe, are false and misleading.
The company said,
On 1 November 2018, Invictus management attended a press conference hosted by the Zimbabwe President, His Excellency CDE E.D. Mnangagwa and the Minister of Mines Hon.Winston Chitando in Harare.
At no time did President Mnangagwa state that an oil discovery had been made in Zimbabwe, but that the exploration activity being undertaken by Invictus had positive indications and that an exploration well would be drilled to confirm the potential of the Mzarabani Prospect. Invictus did not make a statement to the press.
The Company wishes to reiterate that an oil or gas discovery has not been made and the Prospective Resource Estimate for the Mzarabani Prospect relates to undiscovered accumulations which have both a risk of discovery and a risk of development. Although the Cabora Bassa Basin possess all the elements for a working petroleum system, a discovery can only be confirmed through drilling of an exploration well.
President Mnangagwa provided the local press with a briefing on the oil and gas exploration activity being undertaken by Invictus, including the ongoing seismic interpretation and source rock study work which outlined the oil potential of the Cabora Bassa Basin. This was previously announced to the ASX on 24 September 2018.
In his press statement, President Mnangagwa also discussed that the release of the Independent Prospective Resource Estimate would be made by Invictus to its shareholders through the ASX platform on 2 November 2018. The planned release of the report was announced by the Company on 30 October 2018 in the request for a trading halt, and again on 31 October 2018 requesting a further one day voluntary suspension.
The President also affirmed the commitment of the Zimbabwe Government to working with Invictus to facilitate and support our ongoing oil and gas exploration work program.
Commenting on the meeting with President Mnangagwa and Minister Chitando, Invictus Energy Managing Director Scott Macmillan said:
‘We are honoured to have been received by President Mnangagwa and Minister Chitando to provide an overview to the Zimbabwe Government of our exploration activity and progress to date in SG 4571. We are extremely pleased to have the support of government as we progress our work program towards the drilling of the first exploration well in the Cabora Bassa Basin. We look forward to working with the Government on Zimbabwe on this exciting project which if successful can make a significant contribution to Zimbabwe.’
Full Text: Emmerson Mnangagwa Press Statement
‘The Government of Zimbabwe has over the last few months worked with, and facilitated INVICTUS Energy Limited which is quoted on the Australian Stock Exchange to undertake oil and gas exploration studies in Muzarabani. INVICTUS is utilising data which was generated by Mobil Oil in the early 1990s when extensive oil and gas geo-physical work was undertaken in the greater Muzarabani area.
As part of its exploration studies, INVICTUS has engaged a number of worldwide professional companies with extensive experience in oil and gas. We have since been advised by INVICTUS that the findings are positive and point to oil and gas deposits in the area. INVICTUS and their partners will be making a statement to their shareholders through the Australian Stock Exchange in a few hours time.
Government of Zimbabwe will work very closely with INVICTUS to ensure that INVICTUS realises its plans to sink an exploration well by mid 2020. After the exploration well, the next stage will be commercial exploitation of the resource. In the interim, additional geo-physical work is ongoing to identify further exploration targets. Updates will be given as and when the planned exploration work results come in.
The result as communicated by INVICTUS is an exciting development for our country. INVICTUS has committed itself to enter a production sharing agreement with the Government of Zimbabwe, which will be applicable when the project proceeds to commercial production stage.
About the Cabora Bassa Project:
The Cabora Bassa Project encompasses the Mzarabani Prospect, a multi-TCF conventional gas-condensate target which is potentially the largest, undrilled seismically defined structure onshore Africa. The prospect is defined by a robust dataset acquired by Mobil in the early 1990s that includes seismic, gravity, aeromagnetic and geochemical data.