Australian company denies Zimbabwe oil and gas discovery

AUSTRALIAN exploration company, Invictus Energy, has moved swiftly to downplay media reports claiming the junior resource group had discovered oil and gas deposits in Zimbabwe.

On Thursday, company management attended a high-powered press conference in Harare addressed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Also present at the briefing were Mnangagwa's his two deputies as well mines minister Winston Chitando and state security counterpart Owen Ncube.

The presence of the presidium triumvirate pointed to the significance of Mnangagwa's statement with regard to Invictus's exploration work in the country's Muzarabani area.

However, in a press statement issued Friday from the company's Australia base, Invictus insisted that the Zimbabwean leader did not announce a discovery of oil and gas deposits.