Kosmos Awarded 1st Equatorial Guinea Blocks
US independent Kosmos Energy has been awarded three licences offshore Equatorial Guinea, following an agreement announced October 23 with the West African nation's energy ministry and its state-owned producer GEPetrol.
Although the Texan firm is active from Mauritania all the way to Sao Tome e Principe, the three production sharing contracts -- the S, W and EG21 blocks offshore Rio Muni -- are its first assets in Equatorial Guinea. The ministry said they were awarded under its EG Ronda 2016 licensing round. Last week an offshore licence award was also made to UK-based Ophir Energy.
Kosmos will hold 80% of all the three blocks and the remaining 20% will be held by GEPetrol. The S, W and EG-21 blocks cover respectively 1,245 km2, 2,254 km2 and 2,495 km2. As Kosmos and BP have jointly invested in Mauritania/Senegal, it would be no surprise to see BP farm into these three too.
Both asked the Sao Tome e Principe government earlier this month to be jointly awarded blocks 10 and 13 there. The country is a neighbour of Equatorial Guinea.
Olivier de Souza