"We refer to those blocks that, at the end of the exploration period, were unsuccessful, as is the case in the pre-salt area of blocks 22, 23, 24 and 25 and blocks 35 to 40, which we will re-evaluate and then launch bids again in the future," said Paulino Jerónimo, this Wednesday in Luanda, on the sidelines of a ceremony to sign risk contracts.
The president of the concessionaire for oil, gas and biofuels said that this re-evaluation has been done with positive results, giving as an example blocks 20 and 21, in the Kwanza basin (which will be operated by Total).
"A new contractor group has been tendered and there have been discoveries", he stressed.
Blocks 20 and 21 were operated by the Cobalt contractor group.
According to Paulino Jerónimo, "there are many blocks in these conditions".
"The big problem is that we in Angola pay a lot of attention to the blocks that are successful, the blocks that are returned to the state sphere, are the ones that are not successful in the exploration phase and are put up for bid again", he explained.
Recently, the government excluded Odebrecht Oil and Gas Angola from the production sharing contract of Block 16 for non-compliance with contractual and financial obligations and transferred the company's participation to the French multinational Total.
According to Paulino Jerónimo, this is a completely different case.
"As for the Odebrecht group, which participated in a block operated by Total, what happened was non-compliance with contractual obligations and ended up excluded," he stressed.
ANPG signed this Wednesday three Risk Services contracts with ExxonMobil and Sonangol Pesquisa & Produção (P&P) in the Namibe basin that allow the increase of the exploration area in the maritime area (offshore Angola) by another 17,800 square kilometers.
