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First São Tomé and Príncipe Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) Licensing Round 2010

The Agência Nacional do Petróleo de São Tomé e Príncipe (ANP-STP) launched their First Competitive Licensing Round covering the São Tomé and Príncipe’s Exclusive Economic Zone (STP EEZ) on 2 March 2010, at the APPEX conference in London.  The Round had been pre-announced in November 2009 at the 16^th Africa Upstream conference in Cape Town.

Seven offshore blocks from two zones, A and B, are on offer in the Round with a total acreage of approximately 37,300 square kilometres.  Blocks 1, 2, 3 and 6 are available from Zone A and blocks 7, 8 and 13 from Zone B. 2D and 3D seismic covering the blocks is available from Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS), who is assisting the STP Government in promoting the acreage.  The Licensing Round is due to close on 15 September 2010, allowing interested companies six months to submit applications.

São Tomé and Príncipe’s Exclusive Economic Zone acreage highlighting the blocks on offer in the First Licensing Round (blue shading). Source: PetroView®

The STP EEZ is currently unexplored having no wells drilled in the offshore region and only three wells drilled onshore the island of São Tomé in close proximity to oil seeps.  The EEZ is bordered to the north-west by the Nigeria - STP Joint Development Zone (JDZ) where a five-well exploration programme has seen some initial success in the frontal deformation region of the Niger Delta basin. This basin partially extends into EEZ.  To the north-east and the south-west the STP EEZ shares territorial borders with Equatorial Guinea, and to the west, the EEZ neighbours Gabon.

In recent weeks, it has been announced that two companies have successfully acquired a total of four blocks in the STP EEZ by exercising their pre-emptive rights.  Equator Exploration has been pre-awarded blocks 5 and 12 and ERHC Energy has been pre-awarded blocks 4 and 11.  These licences are subject to Production Sharing Contract (PSC) negotiation and will pave the way for successful applicants of the STP EEZ’s First Round later this year.   

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