Equatorial Guinea in Abuja, Nigeria officially announced that it has commenced new licence round for oil, gas and mining acreages in its onshore and ultra-deep waters.
The country’s Minister of Mines & Hydrocarbons, Gabriel Obiang Lima who made the announcement at the ongoing Nigeria International Petroleum Summit (NIPS) said details of the licence round will be made available during the Association of Petroleum Producers Organisation (APPO) CAPE VII Congress and Exhibition which will take place in Malabo, the country’s capital from April 1-5.
“I have decided to choose the city of Abuja to officially announce that in 2019 we are going to launch our licence round. This licence round is special because it is not only a petroleum licence but mining licence round.
Nigeria’s state oil minister Ibe Kachikwu while welcoming the announcement encouraged Nigerian independent exploration and production companies to take advantage of the opportunity to grow their footprints beyond Nigeria.
“We have 12 blocks offerings. Two developments blocks with discoveries. We believe that the number is going to increase,” Mr. Obiang Lima said.
Some of the blocks would include areas relinquished by existing operators, the minister announced during the press conference on the sidelines of the summit.
“In April during the conference we will have more details,” he added.
With production around 120,000 barrels a day of crude and declining due to the ageing of existing fields, Equatorial Guinea, an OPEC member, and the cartel’s smallest producer, is keen to attract players to develop new acreages.
“It will be the first time in the history of Equitorial Guinea that we will have exploration blocks, developing blocks…we will invite third parties to work on possible joint ventures
“By November we will announce the winners and sign Memorandum of Understanding (MOUs) on Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs)” he said.
Mr. Obiang Lima said the country apart from hosting the CAPE VII will for the first time in Africa host the summit of Heads of State of Gas Exporting Countries. The summit is scheduled to take place later in November.
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