***UPSTREAM*** ERHC *** **Game On-JULY**
Gulf of Guinea bid to begin
Oil exploration will begin this July in the joint development zone managed by Nigeria and Sao Tome&Principe in the Gulf of Guinea, with a new licensing round held possibly as early as 2011, writes Barry Morgan.
The Abuja-based joint development authority's director, Jorge Santos, said the next round would follow fresh 2D and 3D seismic studies for which tenders are ?already under discussion.
Licences available for auction include blocks 7, 8, 9 and 10.
Santos said it would take months to complete the new seismic surveys and that the remaining blocks would be smaller than those licensed in 2004, with areas ranging from 750 to 1000 square kilometres.
Santos told local media that Chevron's apparently disappointing probe on Block 1 of the joint development zone in 2006 may have been drilled in the wrong place.
"Chevron might well be waiting for the results of Sinopec's upcoming wildcat on the Bomu prospect on Block 2 before deciding future strategy," he said.
Santos admitted to Anadarko's "passive stance" when pressured to bring forward its drilling programme, attributing this to the explorer's major interests in the Gulf of Mexico.
After Sinopec's drillship Sedco 702 spuds Bomu 1 in the first week of July, Addax will deploy the drillship Deepwater Pathfinder from the second week of July to spud Kina 1, according to a joint development authority source.
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Thursday, 28 May, 2009, 23:01 GMT | last updated: Thursday, 28 May, 2009, 23:01 GMT
