Angola to Award Output-Sharing Contracts on 10 Blocks (Update3)
By Jim Kennett
Oct. 18 (Bloomberg) -- Sonangol SA, Angola's state oil company, plans to award production-sharing contracts on 10 exploration blocks by July 2008.
Syanga Abilio, a Sonangol board member, gave a presentation on the country's oil-licensing round today in Houston. Six deepwater blocks are in the Kwanza and Lower Congo Basins, one is a shallow-water block, one is onshore in Cabinda Centro and two are onshore Kwanza blocks. The total ``resource potential,'' or estimate of oil in the blocks, is 8.45 billion barrels.
The deadline for pre-qualification for interested bidders is Nov. 13, said Carlos Saturnino, Sonangol's negotiations director. Bids must be presented by March 13, contract negotiations are to take place from May 5 to May 18, and contracts should be signed by July 1, he said.
Angola included onshore and offshore blocks to draw a wider range of companies, Tim Zoba, consulting general manager at IHS Energy, which is handling the presentation for the licensing.
``There's a much wider range of opportunities than in the previous roadshow,'' Zoba said in an interview. ``You have a much wider range of companies, everyone from Exxon Mobil to two-man independents.''
Angola's previous licensing round in 2005-2006 drew mostly major oil companies. That round, the first since Angola's independence in 1975, drew 20 company proposals for seven offshore blocks, IHS said.
Today's event attracted 40 to 50 companies, Zoba said.
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