Negotiations over Angoche Area A-5

The National Petroleum Institute (INP) says that the negotiation of the agreement to explore for oil in the Angoche Basin Area A5-A in Nampula is proceeding normally, despite the withdrawal of the Norwegian company Statoil, which was part of the consortium interested in exploring the area.Statoil and its partners, Eni and Sasol, were declared winners of the A5-A concession area in the fifth tender launched in 2014 by the government. Norwegian company Statoil however recently informed the INP that it intended to abandon negotiations on the prospecting and research contract.It is thought the tender has the potential to attract investments in the order of US$700 million, but since it closed in 2015, contracts have not yet been closed and work on the ground has not yet started.

The INP says that, companies requested changes in the tax and the foreign exchange regimes applying to the contracts during the negotiations.

“As you may know, it is up to the government to approve these instruments. Now, the Tax Law has already been reviewed and approved, and we wait for its entry into force. Regarding the Foreign Exchange Regime, we are in permanent contact with the Bank of Mozambique and we know that the process is also very advanced,” a National Institute of Petroleum source said recently.The fifth international hydrocarbon research tender concerns 11 offshore areas in the Rovuma, Angoche and Moçambique (Zambezi Delta) basins, and four onshore areas located in the Mozambique Basin (Pande-Temane and Palmeira), covering a total of 74,259 square kilometres.Twenty-three proposals, covering 11 of the 15 areas available, were received.Evaluation of the proposals established consortiums led by Eni Mozambico S.p.A the winner of Angoche area A5-A. The A5-B area in the same region was won by Exxon Mobil E & P Mozambique Offshore Ltd.This oil giant will also lead research in the Zambezi region Areas A5-C and A5-D, while Sasol Petroleum Mozambique Exploration will lead research in the Pande-Temane area, areas PT5-C, and Delonex Energy Ltd work in the region of Palmeira, Area P5-A.