Page 13 - AfrOil Week 39

AfrOil INVESTMENT AfrOil

Angola to launch onshore

bidding round in January

ANGOLA ANGOLA’S National Agency of Petroleum, Gas won the upcoming auctions would pay a petro-
and Biofuels (ANPG) has said it will launch its leum income tax of 30% instead of the usual rate
next onshore licensing round early next year. of 50%.
The agency had originally hoped to open bid- According to ANPG officials, this plan gives
ding for nine blocks in the Lower Congo Basin Angolan firms an extra incentive to participate
and the Kwanza Basin in May 2020. It changed in the bidding round, as international oil com-
its plans because of the coronavirus (COVID- panies (IOCs) will still have to pay a tax of 50%.
19), and Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS), the It will also bring the new deals into line with
Norwegian seismic services company that is existing production-sharing contracts (PSCs),
supporting the licensing round, said in July which usually set petroleum income tax rates at
that bidding would be “officially launched in 65.75% for IOCs and 30% for domestic inves-
September/October 2020, with the deadline to tors, they explained.
submit bids in March.” The officials also said that Luanda was offer-
Now, though, officials in Luanda intend to ing favourable terms beyond the tax breaks to
call the tender in January 2021 and will accept local investors. Angolan firms that submit win-
bids until March 10, 2021. The winners of the ning bids will not be obliged to pay signature
auctions will then be able to negotiate explora- bonuses or provide funding for social welfare
tion contracts for the relevant assets. initiatives, they stated. ™
The onshore licensing round will include
three blocks in the Lower Congo Basin (CON-
1, CON-5 and CON-6) and six blocks in the
Kwanza Basin (KON-5, KON-6, KON-8, KON-
9, KON-17 and KON 20). Potential investors will
be able to view a variety of data on these sites,
including 2D seismic coverage from the Lower
Congo Basin, according to PGS. The data set
also includes a recently updated geological map
and database of the onshore Kwanza Basin and
a compilation of recently acquired aeromagnetic
coverage from the transition zone and shallow
waters of the Lower Congo and Kwanza basins.
ANPG has encouraged local companies to
bid in the onshore licensing round. Earlier this
year, the agency said that domestic firms that PGS is supporting Angola’s onshore licensing round (Image: PGS)

PERFORMANCE
Libyan oil output set to rise as three

terminals re-open

LIBYA LIBYA’S National Oil Corp. (NOC) expects (LNA), led by Khalifa Haftar, had paved the way
to see crude production levels rise to 260,000 for bringing production capacity back online.
barrels per day (bpd) by the end of this week, Libya had been producing more than 900,000 EACOP will be 1,445 km long (Image: Uganda Business Centre)
following the re-opening of some coastal export bpd prior to January 18, when the LNA and its
facilities. allies forced the closure of five Mediterranean
NOC reported last week that the recent sign- export terminals – Brega, Es Sider, Marsa El
ing of an agreement between the UN-backed Hariga, Ras Lanuf and Zueitina. Since then, the
Government of National Accord (GNA), based Zawiya, Es Sider and Ras Lanuf terminals have
in Tripoli, and the Libyan National Army also shut down.

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