Sonangol bins bidding round

Sonangol announced the cancellation of its onshore bid round Wednesday, citing the change in market conditions since the round was launched in 2014.

Sonangol said the viability of the oil concessions had been negatively impacted by lower oil prices as well as the global and national economic situation.

“The current economic situation in the oil sector will require the reformulation of the economic analysis that supported the preparation of the published terms of reference and the minimum work programmes,” the NOC statement read.

The statement also said the terms of reference would not be profitable in the near term but changing them would harm the transparency of the process.

The onshore bidding round was launched in February 2014. Ten blocks, three in the lower Congo Basin and seven in the Kwanza Basin, estimated to hold on average 700,000 boe, were on offer.

In December 2015, five of the seven Kwanza Basin blocks were pre-awarded and all three of the Congo Basin blocks.

The bidding round had been intended to give Angolan companies a chance to enter the upstream sector, and the pre-awarded acreage had been allocated mainly to smaller and local companies.

The NOC was set to take a 30% share in each licence, with the local players receiving 20% stakes.