Equatorial Guinea round is put back
By Upstream staff
Equatorial Guinea has delayed its 2006 licensing round by three months, citing the need to pass oil and gas legislation this September.
Under the new schedule, prequalification for the round has been put back to 31 August from June and the deadline for bid submissions has been delayed to 31 January 2007 from 31 October.
A data room opened on 8 May in London and it is obligatory for all companies wishing to participate in the round to visit it.
Roadshows that were planned for this month in London and Houston are now tentatively being scheduled for late September or October.
A statement on the Ministry of Mines&Energy website said that the delay is to ensure that "all enabling legislation is in place and consistent" for the round.
"This will include the hydrocarbon law (and its model contract and regulations), the tax law and laws concerning local content," it added.
However, industry sources have linked the delays to the licensing round to the ongoing dispute over the award of offshore Campo basin Block R to independent Ophir Energy.
The award to Ophir made by the ministry has just been ratified but Norwegian minnow Equity Energy Resources (EER), which was lined up for the block by state oil company GEPetrol, insists it should have the acreage.
Malabo's proposed new oil and gas legislation has been driven by the need to draw a clear distinction between the roles of the Ministry of Mines, Industry&Energy and GEPetrol, with special emphasis on the demarcation of responsibilities during the negotiating phase of upstream contracts.
There is mounting concern that confidence could suffer if the dispute with EER over the acreage cannot be resolved.
In an effort to shore up confidence in the licensing system the bill is being rushed through by the ministry.
In addition to Ophir's block, located to the south of ExxonMobil-operated Block C, Malabo has also ratified the China National Offshore Oil Corporation's award of Block S, located in acreage to the west of Hess' Okume field complex and surrounding the Ceiba field.
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11 May 2006 23:01 GMT | last updated: 11 May 2006 23:01 GMT
