Tanzania Receives Five Bids for Four Oil, Gas Blocks
Gas rich Tanzania has received five bids for four hydrocarbons blocks out of eight which were on offer, according to Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC).
The eight oil and gas blocks on offer constituted seven deep-sea offshore blocks and one block in Lake Tanganyika. Bids closed on May 15.
Tanzania’s fourth deepwater round was originally to be launched in April 2011. At the time, nine offshore areas—Blocks 1B, 1C, 2A, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, 5A and 5B were to be offered. But the round was postponed for technical reasons. The bidding round was finally announced in October last year with Block 2A, 3A, 3B, 4A, 4B, 5A, 5B and North Lake Tanganyika put on offer.
According to TPDC, bids have been offered by CNOOC, Gazprom, a consortium of Statoil and ExxonMobil, Mubadala and Ras Al Khaimah Gas.
CNOOC and Statoil and ExxonMobil have submitted offer for offshore block 4/3A, which covers 2,620.3 square kilometres.
Gazprom has applied for block 4/3B offshore Tanzania, covering an area of 3,045 square kilometres.
Mubadala has applied for offshore block 4/2A, which covers an area of 3,630 square kilometres. UAE firm, Ras Al Khaimah Gas LLC, has submitted a bid for the Lake Tanganyika North block, with a size of 9,670.2 square kilometres.
Four offshore blocks, 4/3B, 4/4A, 4/4B and 4/5B, did not attract any bids, TPDC said.
“Currently, all bid documents are being evaluated to ascertain if they have complied with the terms and conditions which were set by the Government. The announcement of the bid winners will follow immediately after the evaluation which will be within bid validity period as stipulated in the 4th Deep Offshore and Lake Tanganyika North Bid Instructions. Successful bidders will be invited to commence the negotiations for the Production Sharing Agreements (PSAs) with the Government and TPDC,” TPDC said.
In recent years, Tanzania has discovered vast amounts of natural gas, mainly offshore. The impoverished nation is looking to exploit the resources and is keen on attracting global energy players. It is estimated that the country could hold 46.5 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven natural gas reserves.