Ghana receives 60 oil block bids

Ghana’s Ministry of Energy has received 60 bids from 16 companies in the country’s first oil and gas exploration licensing round, local media reported Saturday.

Bidders include Tullow Oil, Total, Eni, Cairn, Harmony Oil and Gas Corporation, ExxonMobil, CNOOC, Qatar Petroleum, BP, Vitol, Global Petroleum Group, Aker Energy, First E&P, Kosmos, Sasol and Equinor, Ghana Web reported.

Two bids were invalidated because they were for Block 1, which is reserved for Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, leaving 58 to progress to the next stage.

“The high level of interest shown by major international oil companies in our first licensing round is a vote of confidence in the Ghanaian economy under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,” Deputy Minister for Energy Mohammed Amin Adam said.

President 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.