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AFRICA
North Africa
Algeria
A Third Licensing Round includes
10 packages of 19 blocks in various basins. Also offered is a Berkine Basin
Project involving six fields that includes exploration through marketing
elements, with technical bids due in October.
Egypt
Thirty blocks in five basins are
being offered, with application deadline of October 1. A data room and data
packages are available at the Egyptian General Petroleum Corp. in Nasr City
and on the EGPC Web site.
Niger
Four blocks are offered, two in
a basin in the western portion of the country and one offshore.
Tunisia
A revised list of
24 blocks is being offered, with a data room opened in Tunis
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WEST AFRICA
Angola
Three ultra-deep water areas
that have been delimited for future rounds are awaiting definitions of
blocks and bid terms.
Congo
Areas are available in the
750,000-km2 Central Congo Basin and the 70,000-km2
Tanganyika Graben in the African Rift System.
Ghana
Regulatory revisions are under
way preparing for an offering this year.
Guinea
Nine deep- and ultra-deepwater
blocks and 20 on the shelf will be offered in the first offshore licensing
round.
Liberia
TGS-Nopec has 9,500 km of
seismic data that includes deepwater and shelf areas--the first in 15
years--and is organizing a licensing round.
Mali
The first bidding round includes
15 blocks, with applications open through September.
Mauritania
Three areas are being offered,
one of which is offshore.
Nigeria
Further licensing rounds are
delayed until at least 2003 due to excessive delays in concluding the year
2000 round.
Senegal
Three deepwater tracts and four
shelf blocks are offered, along with four onshore blocks.
Sierra Leone
An offering is imminent, with
TGS-Nopec working with the government to update legislation and contracts to
complement 4,500 km of seismic shot last year--the first new seismic data in 15
years.
EAST AFRICA
Djibouti
Three blocks onshore and
offshore covering a total of 7,900 km2 comprise the first-ever
offering for petroleum exploration. A 2-D non-proprietary, speculative
seismic shoot is planned by WesternGeco.
Eritrea
Despite ongoing conflict with
Ethiopia, 20 blocks covering 11,800 km2 in the Red Sea Basin
remain open for licensing.
Ethiopia
Fourteen blocks are offered and
the ministry is seeking a spec seismic shoot.
Kenya
Twelve blocks, including on- and
offshore areas, are available for negotiation.
Tanzania
A second offshore round offers
seven new blocks, along with five others that received no bids in round one.
Uganda
Three areas in the
under-explored Albertine Graben are being offered under both royalty/tax and
production sharing terms.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
Angola/Namibia
A joint study of six undrilled
blocks ranging in size from 4,500 to 10,000 km2 is available
through WesternGeco, with direct negotiations welcomed and no bid round
planned.
South Africa
A block relinquished by Phillips
after completion of an obligation well is being re-offered.
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EUROPE
Bulgaria
A tender call was announced in
June for two deepwater blocks in the West Black Sea Basin, along with a
shelf block.
Denmark
The customary nine-month Open
Door Policy is in effect through September, where applications are accepted
for any unlicensed areas west of 6° 15' East.
Greece
A Second Licensing Round is
expected late this year for onshore and offshore areas, including in the
deepwater Ionian Sea.
Ireland
An Open Door Policy is in effect
for areas not included in previous four rounds.
Latvia
Offshore non-exclusive
prospecting licensing for a shelf area is open through August, along with a
tender call for three exploration permits unlicensed in the country's first
offshore bid round.
Malta
Contracts are expected in the
fall for five areas ranging in water depths of 50 meters to 2,000 meters.
The Netherlands
Two blocks are being reviewed
for offer, with the Ninth Round bidding just being closed.
Norway
The government has indicated
that licensing rounds in the Norwegian Sea will be held every second hear.
The 17th Round closed in March.
Portugal
Deep offshore bids for seven
areas are being sought through November.
Romania
Six blocks, including five
onshore, have been offered, with bids open through August.
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EURASIA
Georgia
A tender including two offshore
and four onshore blocks was expected to be announced in July, with 60 days
to respond.
Russia
While a moratorium on acreage
offerings has been levied, states are preparing a number of tenders,
including a long-term exploration being considered in West Siberia. The
government of the Khanty-Mansiyskiy Automomous Okrug announced the entire
okrug will be divided into zones and into blocks of 350-500 square
kilometers, which will be offered to companies through open auctions.
Turkmenistan
32 Caspian Sea blocks are on
offer, and 18 blocks--or parts of the blocks--lie within zones disputed by
either Iran or Azerbaijan. Fifteen onshore blocks are also offered.
Uzbekistan
Direct negotiation is available
on 16 projects, plus eight proposed development projects on existing fields
requiring investment commitments of $242 million (U.S.).
MIDDLE EAST
Iran
Sixteen field development
projects are being undertaken in the Zagros Fold Belt, including eight
previously unbid projects offered under buy-back terms.
Iraq
Seven exploration blocks
covering 84,500 square kilometers are offered in the Western Desert along
the Saudi border, as well as major field development projects throughout the
country.
Jordan
Five blocks remain open to
foreign countries.
Oman
PGS has an agreement to shoot
and interpret seismic on Block 41, which covers 19,500 square kilometers
offshore northern Oman. The block includes shelf and deepwater areas.
Qatar
An open block of 2,830 square
kilometers, considered to contain an extension of the 90-million-barrel
Balal Field.
Syria
Eleven exploration blocks are
open for application to bid under production-sharing terms.
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SOUTH ASIA
India
A total of 27 exploration blocks
have been offered bid, including nine deepwater bocks, seven shallow water
blocks and 11 onshore blocks. Four are being offered for the first time and
the others with either reprocessed or new data.
CHINA & PACIFIC RIM
China
Sinopec is seeking government
approval to open four gas fields in the Songliao Basin for foreign
participation. Also, two enhanced oil recovery contracts are offered in the
South Yellow Sea area and two blocks with deep gas potential are available
in the Bohai Gulf.
Additionally, CNOOC has been
offering blocks in the Bohai Gulf, South Yellow Sea, East China Sea and the
South China Sea.
Indonesia
Migas intends to offer 23 blocks
under production sharing terms, with announcement expected in August.
Malaysia
Various onshore and offshore
blocks in three geographical areas remaining from a late-2001 offer remain
available.
Mongolia
Direct negotiations are invited
on 16 blocks.
Philippines
Jebco is acquiring up to 10,000
kilometers of data in three basins in the southern Sulu Sea in preparation
for a proposed licensing round in 2003.
South Korea
Seven offshore blocks are open
for exploration.
Thailand
The 18th Round closed
in 2000, and a moratorium was declared. However, three additional
applications were filed for that round earlier this year. No timeframe has
been announced.
Vietnam
All open areas are available for
direct negotiation under varying contract regimes with PetroVietnam.
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SOUTH AMERICA
Bolivia
Nine blocks have been nominated
for bid, two of which in non-traditional areas. Bids expected to open August
15.
Brazil
A disappointing 14 of 38 blocks
offered received bids in ANP Round 4 held in mid-June, with only two blocks
receiving second bids.
Chile
State oil company ENAP has yet
to award a contract to any of the several companies that have expressed
interest in ENAP’s search for partners to rehabilitate 21 of its largest
fields.
Colombia
Six blocks are being offered via
farm out or joint venture agreements by Ecopetrol.
Ecuador
The upcoming bid round was
reduced from eight blocks to six, with two in Ecuador’s Amazon region and
the remaining four along the Pacific Coast. Observers anticipate little bid
action until a newly elected government takes power in January. Meanwhile,
IHS reports the bid round to form operating alliances with private service
companies to rehabilitate 90 inactive wells scattered in the Oriente region
drags on, with no offers presented and no date set for delivery of bids.
Falkland Islands
New production licenses are
being offered on all acreage not already claimed, with certain exceptions.
Bids for open-door licensing can be submitted at any time, with bids opened
on the last working day of each month.
Peru
IHS indicates a planned auction
of three blocks adjacent to the Camisea Field has been abandoned due to lack
of interest. Three other blocks remain available through direct negotiation.
Venezuela
A decision is imminent on a
10-block tender, including five offshore blocks not awarded in last year’s
bid round. The offshore areas lie in the 25,000-square-kilometer Plataforma
Deltana area on the maritime border with Trinidad & Tobago. A wildcat in
June confirmed the area’s potential, and PDVSA estimates gas reserves at 38
trillion cubic feet.
CARIBBEAN AND CENTRAL
AMERICA
Cuba
Sixteen onshore blocks and nine
offshore blocks are offered “out of round.”
Guatemala
An 11-block round planned for
late 2001 is still pending.
Nicaragua
Approval is expected this year
for a tender covering 150,907 square kilometers, including offshore
Caribbean and Pacific areas as well as onshore coastal plain of the Pacific
margin.
NORTH AMERICA
Mexico
The long-anticipated First
Multiple Service Contracts tender is expected in November. The tender
represents the broadest opening of the Mexican upstream sector in decades.
It is anticipated that all contracts will be limited to field development,
with operations limited to already-proven and audited reservoirs. However,
field extensions will apparently be permitted. Contracts will carry a
maximum term of 20 years broken into sub-periods.
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