Mozambique government to survey hydrocarbon concession areas

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Mozambique government to survey hydrocarbon concession areas

6:06 CAT | 07 Jun 2016

Notícias (File photo)

Mozambique is to spend about US$150 million on seismic surveying of the areas covered by the fifth international tender competition for hydrocarbon exploration in Mozambique, with the aim of establishing a database of the fields’ potential prior to them being made available to the winning companies.

Speaking to Notícias, the president of the National Oil Institute (INP), Carlos Zacarias, said that the work had been entrusted to a firm with an international reputation in the field and was expected to be completed before the end of this year.

Zacarias said it was normal for companies to undertake three-dimensional seismic surveys themselves but there were also cases in which the state itself took the step.

“In the oil sector, it’s common for the state has to do some evaluation before launching a tender so that, when signing contracts with the concession companies, it has in mind what is on offer. Companies, when they tender, do not undertake to invest millions of dollars without having an initial idea of what exists on the ground,” he explained.

The INP president said that, in addition to the surveys, the state was also preparing for the discussion of the final format of the contracts, so that by the end of this year the concessionaires who won fifth-round tenders could initiate their investments.

The companies that win fifth-round tenders for hydrocarbons prospecting and exploration in Mozambique are expected to invest about US$700 million over four years.

The fifth round of tenders was launched on 23 October 2014 by the National Petroleum Institute (INP), regulator of the oil sector in Mozambique, which has made available to interested parties a total of 11 offshore areas in the Rovuma basin, Angoche and Moçambique (Zambezi delta) and four onshore areas in Pande/Temane and Palmeiras, covering a total of 74,259 square kilometres.

Source: Notícias