DILI, 23 april 2022 (TATOLI) – The Government of Timor-Leste, through the Ministry of Petroleum and Minerals (MPM) had officially announced five oil firms as the ‘Bids Winners’ of the second licensing round for Timor-Leste petroleum exploration – Timor Gap E.P (State-Owned Oil Company), ETO Lda (Timorese Private Oil Firm), Kazakhstani HTS Exploration Ltd, Eni Australia B.V, and Australian Santos Ltd.
In october 2019, the government launched the nation’s second licensing round, announcing a total of 18 new blocks for a public tender for Production Sharing Contracts (PSC). These 18 blocks cover a large percentage of the total on and offshore area of the country.
Seven of the offered blocks are onshore. They cover all the northern and eastern halves of the country, a total of nearly 10.000 km2, with the largest covering the whole eastern end of the country. The remaining 11 blocks are in the offshore area to the south of the country, in the Timor Sea.
Two of the seven onshore blocks would be explored by Timor-Leste oil firms following their success in winning the bids of the second licensing round. Timor Gap would explore block A, and ETO Ltd would explore that block B. Meanwhile, the three international oil firms won the bids for the exploration of the offshore blocks. Kazakhstani HTS Exploration Ltd won the bid to explore block F, ENI Australia B.V would explore block P and Australian Santos Lda would explore block R.
These five companies are expected to sign the PSC at Timor-Leste Energy and Mining Summit to be held, in Dili, in June, this year.
“Once the government and these five oil firms sign the PSC, they could straightaway kick off the exploration process of these on and offshore blocks,” President of the National Regulatory Authority of Petroleum and Mineral (ANPM), Florentino Mateus Soares Ferreira told TATOLI, after the announcement of the Bids Winners for Second Licensing Round 2019/2022, at Suai Room, in Timor-Plaza, Dili, on Friday.
He said the announcement of the winner for the second licensing round marked another milestone for Timor-Leste, adding the exploration of the five blocks was part of the solutions to replace Bayu-Undan. As the production from the Bayu-Undan field was in decline and expected to be dried up shortly.
In addition, Ferreira said one of the requirements that the international companies needed to fulfill is to set their office in Timor-Leste: “By establishing their offices in the country, it’s likely that they will hire many Timorese people. One company may employ more than 500 Timorese workers when it comes to the seismic exploration for oil and gas, but it depends on each block.”
“It’s not easy to attract international investors to explore our oil. Luckily, we have three international companies who had successfully applied for oil and gas exploration in our country,” he said.
At the same place, Valente Ferreira, the Chief of Staff of the Minister of Petroleum and Minerals said that the involvement of the five oil firms would ensure sustainable development of oil and gas in the country.
“We need to work together in putting more effort to develop Timor-Leste’s petroleum sector to benefit all Timorese people,” he said.
In november 2005, Timor-Leste launched its first licensing round for the exploration of Timor-Leste’s offshore oil reserves.
Journalist: Filomeno Martins
Editor: Nelia Borges Rosario
