International oil companies could begin oil exploration off the coast of Bahrain before the end of next year, Minister of Oil and Gas Affairs Dr Abdulhussain Mirza told GDN yesterday.
Dr Mirza - who also serves as chairman of the National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) and chairman of the Tender Board - revealed three major oil firms submitted official exploration bids before yesterday's deadline for four blocks comprising Bahrain's entire offshore acreage.
American oil firm Occidental, Russian state-owned firm Zarubezhneft and an as yet unnamed Thai company believed to be the country's state-owned firm PTT Public Company Limited have submitted bids.
"We got three bids and we will open them tomorrow. Three bids is just right for us because we have four blocks and some of them may be bidding for more than one block - we will not know until we open them tomorrow," Dr Mirza said.
Dr Mirza said he was very happy with the calibre of the firms vying to explore the four offshore blocks.
"Occidental is one of the major oil companies in the US, Zarubezhneft one of the major oil companies in Russia and the Thai company is also very well-known," he said.
Occidental has operations around the globe and is the largest oil producer in Texas.
In the Middle East the company is active in Libya, Oman, Qatar, and Yemen and is a partner in the trans-border Dolphin Project that will supply natural gas from Qatar to markets in the UAE.
Zarubezhneft is the arm of the Russian government devoted to foreign oil projects and has extensive offshore operations in Vietnam.
"The next stage is to examine what will be complex bids. Each bidder will have indicated various things they plan to do and how they will do it. The bids will now be evaluated by people here in Bahrain - by experts at Bapco and Noga with the help of a consultant," Dr Mirza explained.
Asked if he expected exploration efforts to find large quantities of oil, Dr Mirza was cautious, citing Bahrain's experience of previous efforts which failed to produce oil in serious commercial quantities.
"It is difficult to say. Once we evaluate what the firms have laid out in their bids we will have a better feel for it because they will submit technical information and they will talk about whether they will do more seismic surveys and so on. "Once the blocks are awarded it will still take the companies time to make preparations but drilling work could begin by the end of next year," he said.
Dr Mirza - who also serves as chairman of the National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga) and chairman of the Tender Board - revealed three major oil firms submitted official exploration bids before yesterday's deadline for four blocks comprising Bahrain's entire offshore acreage.
American oil firm Occidental, Russian state-owned firm Zarubezhneft and an as yet unnamed Thai company believed to be the country's state-owned firm PTT Public Company Limited have submitted bids.
"We got three bids and we will open them tomorrow. Three bids is just right for us because we have four blocks and some of them may be bidding for more than one block - we will not know until we open them tomorrow," Dr Mirza said.
Dr Mirza said he was very happy with the calibre of the firms vying to explore the four offshore blocks.
"Occidental is one of the major oil companies in the US, Zarubezhneft one of the major oil companies in Russia and the Thai company is also very well-known," he said.
Occidental has operations around the globe and is the largest oil producer in Texas.
In the Middle East the company is active in Libya, Oman, Qatar, and Yemen and is a partner in the trans-border Dolphin Project that will supply natural gas from Qatar to markets in the UAE.
Zarubezhneft is the arm of the Russian government devoted to foreign oil projects and has extensive offshore operations in Vietnam.
"The next stage is to examine what will be complex bids. Each bidder will have indicated various things they plan to do and how they will do it. The bids will now be evaluated by people here in Bahrain - by experts at Bapco and Noga with the help of a consultant," Dr Mirza explained.
Asked if he expected exploration efforts to find large quantities of oil, Dr Mirza was cautious, citing Bahrain's experience of previous efforts which failed to produce oil in serious commercial quantities.
"It is difficult to say. Once we evaluate what the firms have laid out in their bids we will have a better feel for it because they will submit technical information and they will talk about whether they will do more seismic surveys and so on. "Once the blocks are awarded it will still take the companies time to make preparations but drilling work could begin by the end of next year," he said.
Via|Gulf Daily News|MARK SUMMERS
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