Mozambican authorities are finalising negotiations with the two consortia that won the 6th international tender (bid round) for hydrocarbon exploration and production.
“Negotiations are almost over and by the end of this year at the latest the contracts will be presented to the government so that it can approve them and start operations,” said Carlos Zacarias, the country’s Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy.
The two consortia who won were led by ENI, the Italian explorer and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), the Chinese behemoth.
Zacarias explained that the Mozambican cabinet is studying the possibility of launching more bid rounds in the short term, as the government considers the country as having significant volume of yet unexplored hydrocarbons.
The minister was speaking at the closing ceremony of the 8th Coordinating Council of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy.
“Taking advantage of the energy resources that Mozambique has, becomes more pertinent given the period of energy transition that the world is going through,” he emphasised.
Mozambique has three development projects approved to exploit the natural gas reserves in the Rovuma basin, considered one of the largest in the world and are located off the coast of Cabo Delgado province.
