14 companies progress in Ghana bid round

Ghana’s Ministry of Energy has pre-qualified 14 companies to bid for five oil blocks, local media reported Thursday.

Out of 16 companies, one was disqualified for not meeting pre-qualification requirements and another had applied for a block reserved for Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, Ghana Web reported. The ministry will contact all companies directly to inform them of the outcome.

“The objective of prequalification is to ensure that we only allow companies that have the financial muscle, technical competence and are willing to give us the best in terms of local content to move on to the next level,” the head of communications at the Ministry of Energy, Nana Damoah, told Citi Business News.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo launched the country’s first oil and gas exploration licensing round in October. Blocks 2, 3 and 4 are open for bidding, while deepwater blocks 5 and 6 are to be allocated through direct negotiations.