AND MORE... OIL 08 Nov 2021 | 14:36 UTCGambialaunches new...

AND MORE...

• OIL

• 08 Nov 2021 | 14:36 UTC

Gambialaunches new bidding round for offshore block exited by BP

• AuthorDania Saadi
• EditorClaudia Carpenter
• CommodityOil

HIGHLIGHTS

Bidders have four monthsto submit offer

BP had signed agreementfor Block A1 in April 2019

It exited due to changein corporate strategy

Gambiahas launched a new bidding round for offshore Block A1, officials said Nov. 8,after BP exited the field this year and paid the government for suspendingdrilling at the license.

Biddershave four months to submit their offers, Kanni Touray, deputy commissioner ofpetroleum at the ministry of petroleum and energy, told Africa Oil Weekorganized by the Hyve group in Dubai. The license will be for a maximum of 30years, divided into three exploration periods, she added.

"Ourkey objective in designing the licensing round is to ensure an attractivefiscal regime with low entry conditions for bidders as well as procurementprocess and participation rules," Fafa Sanyang, the country's minister ofenergy and petroleum, said.

BPhad signed an agreement on Block A1 with the ministry in April 2019, and hadconsequently acquired 2D and 3D seismic data in the license. But the company'scommitment to drilling an exploration well remained pending, and the COVID-19pandemic halted a majority of upstream work globally in 2020.

"InJuly 2020, BP informed the ministry that it would not be able to drill a wellin the A1 Block due to a change in its corporate strategy towards low carbonenergy," the ministry said in an Aug 12 statement.

Offshore exploration

TheWest African country hopes to increase offshore exploration as oil pricesrebound.

Australia-basedexplorer FAR Limited is on track to resume drilling at its exploration blockoffshore The Gambia in the fourth quarter of this year after operations wereadversely affected due to the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent oil pricecrash.

FARhas contracted to use the Stena IceMAX drillship for the Bambo-1 explorationwell, located in Block A2 offshore The Gambia. Three prospects have beenidentified in Bambo-1, with a total estimated recoverable, prospective resourceof 1.118 billion barrels.

Ifsuccessful, a discovery could result in a standalone development, according toFAR, and would result in The Gambia's first oil production.