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STP News: EEZ oil block auctions expected at year's end, says official

Sao Tome, Jan. 27 (Lusa) - The auction of oil exploration blocks in Sao Tome and Principe's exclusive economic zone should take place late this year, a source at the islands' National Petroleum Agency (ANP) said Tuesday.

The ANP official, who asked to remain unidentified, told Lusa the agency was working to prepare the long-delayed auction in hopes of holding it during the last quarter of 2009.

The proposed timeframe would be met unless new political crises arose, the source said.

Successive STP governments have announced plans to carry out oil block auctions in its large Gulf of Guinea EEZ over the past two years, but recurrent political crises and short-lived administrations have caused repeated postponements.

Seismic studied carried out by Norwegian firm PGS have indicated good prospects of finding hydrocarbon reserves in STP ultra-deep waters.

"We are certain of the existence of oil (in the EEZ) and our expectation is that it will be found in commercial quantities", the ANP official told Lusa.

The first test wells in two offshore blocks in the Joint Development Zone (JDZ) shared with Nigeria are expected later this year.

The JDZ blocks in question, 2 and 4, are operated by China's Sinopec and Swiss-Canadian Addax, respectively.