Angola has announced that it will begin tendering process in May this year for 10 new onshore oil blocks located in the Congo Basin and Kwanza Basin
According to state oil company Sonangol, companies that want to take part in the tender must submit documentation on their business structures, activities and finances by 30 April 2014 to enter the pre-qualifying stage.
Angola, Africa’s biggest oil producer after Nigeria, extracts nearly all its crude from offshore fields, but is seeking to develop its onshore potential, the explorer added.
The 10 onshore blocks may hold, on average, reserves of 700,000 barrels of oil each. The government puts Angola’s total reserves at just under 13bn barrels. Seven of the new blocks are in the Kwanza Basin and three in the Congo Basin, Sonangol said.
Angola reportedly produced 1.73 million barrels of oil per day on an average last year, with major international firms such as France’s Total, Britain’s BP and US’ Chevron among the leading operators.
