Petronas Gains Exploration Rights For Zambezi Delta Block

Petronas, together with Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos de Mocambique, the national oil company of Mozambique, has been awarded the exploration and production contract for the offshore Zambezi Delta Block by the government of Mozambique.

The Exploration Production Contract for the block was signed in Maputo, Mozambique between Petronas and ENH as partners, and Mozambique's Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy.

Under the terms of the EPC, Petronas, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Petronas Carigali Mozambique E&P Limited, will hold an 85 percent interest in the block while ENH will own the remaining 15 percent interest. Petronas Carigali Mozambique has been designated the operator for the block. In the event of commercial discovery, ENH has the option to increase its participation up to 20 percent during the development and production phase of the block.

The Zambezi Delta Block, covering an area of approximately 29,054 square kilometers, is located offshore of the Zambezi Delta in water depth of up to 2,000 meters. The basin within which the block is located has proven hydrocarbon system with discoveries of several onshore gas fields.

Under the terms of the EPC, the contractor will purchase technical data available on the contract area, reprocess a minimum of 1,000 line-km seismic data and acquire and process new 2D or 3D seismic data. In the initial three years, the contractor is committed to spend US$10 million for the block's geological and geophysical evaluation.

The award of the contract for the block marks Petronas' first entry into Mozambique's upstream business as well as in the East Africa region. In other parts of Africa, Petronas is already actively involved in upstream activities in Algeria, Angola, Chad/Cameroon, Gabon, Niger, Sudan, South Africa and Tunisia/Libya.

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