Clontarf - Re: CLON Stream Log - Equatorial Guinea WINNER CLONToday 20:59Equatorial...

Equatorial Guinea WINNER CLONToday 20:59Equatorial Guinea Ronda Winners Announced at AOP [link] • H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea, announced the winners at the second annual Africa Oil & Power conference on Monday. • Winners included companies that currently operate in the country, such as Ophir Energy, as well as new entrants, including Clontarf Energy and Offshore Equator Plc. • Negotiations on contracts are set to begin June 19, 2017 Cape Town, June 05, 2017 — The seven winners of the EG Rhonda 2016 Licensing Round were announced Monday by H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima, the Minister of Mines and Hydrocarbons of Equatorial Guinea at Africa Oil & Power, one year after the Ronda was initially launched. Out of a total of 23 companies expressing interest in the licensing round since the EG Ronda opened in June 2016 at the inaugural Africa Oil & Power event, 12 companies submitted official bids for the EG Ronda. Of those, just seven companies have advanced to negotiations, which are set to begin June 19, 2017. “Some of the companies are majors, some are minors, but the important thing is that they are companies dedicated and willing to do exploration and that is the thing that needs to be done,” said H.E. Gabriel Mbaga Obiang Lima at the conference. Winners are: • Ophir Energy for Block EG-24 • Offshore Equator PLC for Block EG-23 • Clontarf Energy for Block EG-18 • Elenilto for Block EG-09 • Taleveras for Block EG-07 • Atlas Petroleum and Strategic Fuel Fund for Block EG-10 • ExxonMobil for Block EG-11 (Direct Negotiation) Also Monday, the Minister announced that the government has already signed a new production sharing agreement with ExxonMobil for Block EG-11, which is contiguous to their Zafiro oil field. The closing of the licensing round was extended to April 28, 2017, due to heightened interest from investors. Production Sharing Contracts should be signed by Sept. 15 and ratified before the end of the year. The round included 17 blocks, both offshore and onshore blocks, as well as unexplored acreages. The results come after Equatorial Guinea took the Ronda on a global roadshow to attract international investments, with government officials making stops in London, Singapore and Abu Dhabi. The Ministry also provided extensions of one month to Total and Lukoil to complete discussions on awarding potential licenses. Equatorial Guinea first started producing in 1991, when the Alba field came online, quickly followed by the Zafiro oil field in 1995. Now, the country produces an average of 342,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Production Sharing Contracts in Equatorial Guinea can either be awarded via competitive international tender or direct negotiation, with exploratio