Iraqi Kurdistan All in the Timing

Licensing Opportunities
Africa Leading a Small
Licensing Revival
KEN WHITE
Gabon
11th Offshore Licensing Round Opens
Gabon’s 2016 offshore bid round was formally opened on
27 October 2015 by his Excellency, Minister for Petroleum and
Hydrocarbons, Mr. Etienne Dieudonné Ngoubou, at the Africa
Upstream conference in Cape Town. This 11th Licensing Round
is focused on five highly prospective deepwater blocks, which will
be promoted by a series of road shows, starting in Libreville on
24 November, followed by Paris on 26 November, Singapore on
30 November and Houston on 3 December 2015. The round will
be open for five months starting on 27 October 2015 and bids can
be submitted from 15 February 2016 onwards, but by no later than
31 March 2016. Pre-qualification for the bid round will require the
purchase of a minimum amount of seismic data.
In preparation for this offering CGG launched a new multiclient
survey programme to acquire 35,000 km 2 of BroadSeis TM
3D data over both the latest available and already awarded
deepwater blocks offshore Gabon, together with 9,900 km of 2D
data over the country’s ultra-deepwater offshore area. The first
phase of the programme, covering almost 25,000 km 2 , started
in the fourth quarter of 2014 and ran for seven months. It will
enable better imaging of this exciting and underexplored area,
and covers areas downdip and adjacent to recent pre-Aptian salt
discoveries such as Leopard, Diaman, Ruche and Tortue.
Congo
Offering Eight Offshore Blocks
Following formal ratification of the new petroleum code
by parliament, HE Jean-Marc Thystère Tchicaya, Minister
of Hydrocarbons, opened the Republic of Congo 2016
Licence Round at the Africa Upstream Conference in Cape
Town on 27 October 2015. The round comprises eight
deep and ultra-deepwater blocks and five onshore blocks
in the Coastal and Cuvette Basins. The Minister said
results of bids made for the blocks offered would be made
known on 31 May 2016. The region is thought to contain
oil concealed below a layer of salt and may possibly hold
reserves comparable to the billions of barrels found in
fields off Brazil.
The new petroleum code, which updates the existing
1994 law, was approved by the cabinet in March. Based
on a model production-sharing contract, it stipulates that
state oil company Société Nationale des Pétroles du Congo
(SNPC) is the holder of the mining title in each case, with
the right to bring in local and international partners.
New Zealand
2016 Block Offer Meeting Some Resistance
Consultation on the 2016 Block Offer closed on 30 October and once
again it has proved a divisive issue. The proposal incorporates four
offshore areas with a total proposed acreage of 537,632 km 2 . Currently
this comprises 1,185 km 2 in the onshore Taranaki Basin, with the
remainder spread over the offshore Pegasus and East Coast Basins,
Northland-Reinga Basin, Taranaki Basin, the Great South Basin and
the Canterbury Basin. It is hoped to launch the round in March 2016.
While Auckland Council plans to accept the overall Block
Offer, some local boards will oppose the plan due to environmental
concerns, and remain far from satisfied that enough is being done to
protect Auckland’s natural and physical resources. Auckland Council
officials are recommending councillors approve the offer subject to
conditions to minimise the impact on the environment: essentially,
the same position it has adopted in previous years. The council
is calling for the government to change the proposed Taranaki
Basin area to start further offshore (at least 12 nautical miles) as a
precaution, so that it avoids the North Island West Coast Marine
Mammal Sanctuary.
18 GEOExPro November 2015