Following a four-year delay, the Government of Mozambique has approved a series of contracts to major oil companies to explore the Northern Zambezi basin, known as Block 5, for oil.
The oil exploration contracts have been awarded to Equinor – formally known as Statoil, Eni, ExxonMobil, Delonex Energy, Sasol and Mozambique’s national oil and gas company – ENH.
Mozambique cabinet spokeswoman, Ana Comoana said that the companies could proceed now with drilling operations to tap into offshore oil reserves that experts say are enough to supply energy to Britain, France, Germany and Italy for a period of over 20 years.
According to reports by Offshore Technology, Comoana said: “The contracts give the concessionaires exclusive rights for to conduct oil operations with the aim to produce oil from the natural resource deposits underneath the areas. ”
Having been awarded in the country’s 5th bid round in 2015, the approved contracts put Mozambique a step further towards its 6th bid round, which the government aims to open in 2019.
