Bidding for oil blocks: 14 out of 16 companies progress to next stage

Fourteen out of sixteen that applied to explore oil blocks have qualified to the next stage of bidding process
The fourteen companies that have made it to the next stage of the bidding process have until May 21, 2019 to submit their bids.
There are six oil blocks up for exploration, but only three are up for competitive bidding.

Fourteen companies that applied to explore oil blocks which were put on offer by the government of Ghana have qualified to the next stage of the bidding process.

Ghana’s Ministry of Energy has given the fourteen companies until May 21, 2019, to submit their bids for three (3) out of the five (5) available oil blocks.

According to the government, the competitive bidding process is aimed at ensuring transparency, value for money and getting companies with the requisite financial and technical expertise to exploit the Oil and Gas resource.

The process, which was ushered in by President Nana Akufo-Addo on October 15, 2018, started with sixteen (16) companies putting in Sixty (60) applications in connection for the different oil blocks.

All prospective bidders submitted their application on December 20, 2018.

Head of Communications at the Ministry of Energy, Nana Damoah told Accra-based Citi FM that they used transparent processes to arrive at the shortlisted number.

“The objective of prequalification is to ensure that we only allow companies that have the financial muscle, technical competence and are willing to give us the best in terms of local content to move on to the next level. Out of the two companies that failed to make it, one applied for a block reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) making their bid invalid. The second company did not meet our prequalification requirements. The remaining 14 have been prequalified and have been sent the bidding document together with the evaluation criteria and a scorecard.”

Out of the 6 oil blocks up for exploration, Block 1 has been reserved for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). Blocks 2, 3 and 4 are up for competitive bidding, while Blocks 5 and 6 will be awarded by the government after Direct Negotiation with some select oil companies.

Nana Damoah said the government is on track to awarding the 3 oil blocks up for bidding to the best companies out of the remaining 14 by August this year.

“We are very much on schedule. At the launch event we put out a timeline and you will realize we have met the deadlines so far. Moving forward the next critical date is May 21, 2018. And we are sure we will meet this deadline which will lead to the ultimate conclusion of the award of block in August this year.”