Russia-based Rosneft and US-based ExxonMobil have filed joint bids to participate in the fifth license round organised by Mozambique’s Institute of National Petroleum (INP)
The partnership is between Rosneft’s wholly-owned subsidiary RN-Exploration and ExxonMobil subsidiary Exploration and Production Mozambique Offshore Limited. Rosneft said in a statement that ExxonMobil will be the operator, should the joint bid be awarded contracts. The statement added that the fields they have bid for are located in Angoche basin (A5-A and A5-B) and in Zambezi Delta (Z5-C and Z5-D).
A total of fifteen blocks spread across approximately 76,800 sq km were included in the fifth licensing round for which INP closed bidding yesterday. The blocks on offer include three new areas of the northern Rovuma Basin, where Italy’s Eni and USA oil major Anadarko Petroleum Corporation are already developing multi-billion-dollar liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects.
Other companies who submitted proposals for the blocks on offer include Canoverseas, Troisade, Total, Namoza, Delinex, Petrolinvest, Eni and Sasol.
The successful bidders will be announced within the next two to three months, according to INP chairman Arsênio Mabote.
Mozambican officials expect that more than US$30bn will be invested initially in the country’s natural gas sector to build capacity to produce 20mn tonnes per year of LNG, with the first exports expected to start in 2018.
