Cape Town — Equatorial Guinea’s Oil Minister Obiang Lima said on Wednesday that the central African nation would award 7-8 blocks from its current licensing round at the end of November.
The country received a total of 21 bids on 13 blocks, out of 27 initially offered, Lima said. The auction included Block R and the related Fortuna gas project
Obiang Lima also told the Africa Oil Week conference in Cape Town that Equatorial Guinea would open a data room for companies interested in the Zafiro oilfield license as soon as possible.
ExxonMobil’s licence for the field expires in 2025, and the nation is keen to get a new company in as soon as possible, Lima said.
“This is going to be done ASAP,” he said, adding that it could be open in a matter of weeks.
He added that the nation’s roughly 120,000 bpd of oil output was constrained by a lack of investment from oil companies operating there, and that spurring them into action would be a key government priority.
“We are going to be very frank with those companies … either you invest, or you drop,” he said. “We are not just going to be sitting there, hibernating.”
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- Reuters
