(Adds detail, background)
LAGOS, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Italian oil major Eni and
France's Total were among the successful bidders for
rights to develop three offshore blocks in Angola out of 10
auctioned late last year, the country's petroleum regulator said
on Thursday.
Eni and Total won operator rights to blocks 28 and 29
respectively in the offshore Namibe basin, while Angola's state
oil company Sonangol and majors Equinor and BP
won smaller stakes, regulator ANPG said in a statement.
All of the blocks are "frontier", meaning they do not
currently produce oil or gas.
The bid round for the fields in the Namibe and Benguela
basins closed in November 2019.
ANPG did not award any stakes in the Benguela basin, and
some stakes in the other blocks are also still available. It did
not give details on why they had not been awarded.
Sonangol won a 35% interest in block 27, but the remaining
65% interest is still on offer. Sonangol also won a 20% interest
in block 28. Eni, the operator, won a 60% stake, with the
remaining 20% remaining up for grabs.
Block 29 was fully awarded, with operator Total taking a 46%
stake, Equinor winning 24.5%, Sonangol taking 20% and BP winning
a 9.5% concession share.
Angola, Africa's second biggest oil exporter, is working to
reform its oil industry and broader economy to arrest a drop in
production that has heaped pain on the economy.
It has also pushed through broad economic reforms, including
a potential sale of stakes of Sonangol and other state-owned
enterprises.
ANPG was formed last year to replace Sonangol as the body
managing energy concessions.
(Reporting by Libby George; Editing by Susan Fenton and Jan
Harvey)
BP (BP.)