The National Agency for Petroleum, Gas and Biofuels (Agência Nacional do Petróleo, Gás e Biocombustíveis, “ANPG”), the National Concessionaire for the Angolan petroleum sector, launched yesterday, 2 October 2019, a new petroleum licensing round. Ten blocks were put on offer: Block 10 in the Benguela Basin; and Blocks 11, 12, 13, 27, 28, 29, 41, 42 and 43 in the Namibe Basin.

The announcement covers the following aspects:
 
(i)    Bidding rules and procedures;
(ii)    Requirements for being an associate of ANPG;
(iii)    Additional requirements for operators;
(iv)    Quality, health, safety and environment requirements;
(v)    Terms of Reference (“TORs”); and
(vi)    Application and proposal templates.

The TORs deal with the key items for assessment of the bids, specifically:
 
(a)    Bidding items: signature bonuses, contributions for social projects and minimum work program;
(b)    Fixed items: cost oil limit, investment premium, and profit oil sharing;
(c)    Variable items: duration of the initial, and the optional exploration phase; and
(d)    Other items: financial guarantee for the minimum work program, and carry of Sonangol P&P’s exploration expenses.
 
Submission of proposals imply the acceptance by the bidder of the terms of the Model Production Sharing Agreement made available by ANPG. This notwithstanding, certain items are open to negotiation.
 
Proposals must be drafted in Portuguese and delivered by 5.30 pm (GMT +1) on 12 November 2019. The bid opening ceremony is scheduled for the following day.

Should you wish to receive additional information on this alert, please contact:
[email protected]