At least nine international companies have submitted bids for
oil and gas exploration blocks in Tanzania's Tanganyika rift basin
and interest in the country's hydrocarbon sector continues to rise,
the state-run Tanzania Petroleum Development Corp. said
Saturday.
TPDC said in a statement Saturday that it is evaluating bids for
the companies which include France's oil major, Total SA (TOT,
FP.FR), Canada-based Fort Calgary Resources Ltd., UK's Orphir
Energy PLC, and New Age Exploration Ltd. (NAE.AU) and Swala Energy,
both of Australia.
The bidding round closed Tuesday and the TPDC is expected to
complete the evaluation of the bids and make recommendations to
government by Sept. 7.
The Lake Tanganyika rift basin is part of the western arm of the
East African rift valley, where at least a billion barrels of oil
have been discovered in neighboring Uganda.
TPDC said other companies that submitted bids for the Tanganyika
blocks include Australia's Beach Energy Ltd. (BCHEY, BPT.AU), and
U.S.-based firms Kosmos Energy Ltd. (KOS) and ERHC Energy Inc.
(ERHE). The country of another bidder, Adamantine Ltd., was not
disclosed.
Spurred by oil discoveries in Uganda as well as gas discoveries
off the Tanzanian coast, interest in the country's hydro carbon
sector has been on the rise. Tanzania is expected to hold a
separate deep-offshore bidding round for at least 13 blocks off its
coastline next year.
The bidding round, initially slated for April 12 was postponed
to give more time for the company to prepare for the operation and
to finish block demarcations. It is expected to include 13 blocks
sitting between 1,200 meters and 3,500 meters of water depth.
Currently, Tanzania has licensed 12 deepwater blocks and recent
exploration works have encountered at least 7.5 trillion cubic feet
of natural gas. The country is yet to discover commercial oil
reserves.
Exploration companies already licensed in Tanzania include Royal
Dutch Shell PLC's (RDSA, RDSB, RDSA.LN, RDSB.LN) local unit, Shell
International, as well as Orca Exploration Group Inc. (ORC.A.V,
ORC.B.V), Dominion Gas and Oil Ltd., Tullow Oil PLC (TUWOY, TLW.LN)
and Tower Resources PLC (TRP.LN).
-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires;
256-75-2624615 bariyonic@yahoo.co.uk
