ERHC Upsteam News
Sao Tome and Nigeria aim for awards by end of December
Skies clear over JDZ licence round
00:12 GMT
EFFORTS by Nigeria and Sao Tome & Principe to license the Joint
Development Zone in the Gulf of Guinea took another step forward last week when bids for five blocks offered in the second round were opened in Abuja.
The Joint Development Authority aims to make awards by 31 December since both countries want to press on with licensing rounds in their respective Exclusive Economic Zones.
New faces included several Nigerian independents absent from the
first round and a handful of international companies, some returning to the fray in an alternative guise. For example, Ophir Energy constitutes the management line-up that jumped ship after the Sterling Energy takeover of Fusion Oil & Gas two years ago.
Chinese explorers and India's ONGC Videsh (OVL) and Reliance
Industries jockeyed for a winning alliance, but in the end only OVL came through. It is understood Reliance had not completed necessary documentation to bid despite having undertaken separate talks with both Equator Exploration and Environmental Remediation Holdings Corporation (ERHC).
Mid-tier US indies Pioneer Natural Resources, Devon Energy and Noble Energy bid confidently on the basis of their partnership with US-registered ERHC, which retains preferential rights in blocks of their choice. Consequently their bids came in lower than indies with modest E&P experience.
Anadarko Petroleum also showed its commitment, bidding high on blocks 3 and 4.
However, special adviser to President Olusegun Obasanjo on Petroleum and Energy Affairs Edmund Daukoru said technical competence and local content commitment would be as important as the signature bonus during evaluation. Other factors may also come into play.
Norway-based Energy Equity Resources owned by Aliko Dangote, credited with bankrolling Obasanjo's political campaign, has already won 9% of block-1 and has bid again strongly for blocks 3 and 4.
Atlas and Conoil are established upstream players in Nigerian waters and Conoil has even acquired deep-water experience, although the presidency is unlikely to grant them more than 10% of any block as it has legislated against indies holding more than this in the EEZ. However, Atlas' owner Prince Arthur Eze already has upstream acreage positions across West Africa and may be chosen as a credible flagbearer for Nigerian expertise.
Then, if JDA officials want a truly pan-African flavour added to the mix, they may grant Ophir's bid for a slice of block 3. Ophir manages South Africa's Black Empowerment combine Mvelaphanda's interest in Forest Oil's Ibubhesi gas field and Mvelaphanda is owned by Tokyo Sexwale, the senior ANC official
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