Total, Petrobras win bids for Angolan offshore oil fields

LUANDA – Total SA of France and Brazil’s Petrobras won contracts to lead international consortiums to explore two offshore oil fields in Angola, authorities said yesterday.

However, the largest stakes in the two blocs are to be held by SSI, a joint venture between Angolan state oil company Sonangol and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, or Sinopec. Carlos Saturnino, a Sonangol director who headed the committee that assessed the bids, said Sinopec did not yet have the technical knowledge to lead exploration in deepwater fields.Sinopec is Asia’s largest refiner by capacity.Total is to head exploration in a deepwater field called Bloc 17.As lead operator, it is to have a 30 per cent stake in the field, with SSI taking 27,5 per cent and Sonangol holding 20 per cent, Saturnino said.In Bloc 18, Petrobras was granted a 30 per cent share, with SSI taking 40 per cent and Sonangol 20 per cent.Smaller local companies took the remaining stakes.Total is to pay Angola US$670 million and Petrobras US$310 million (N$2,05 billion) in “signature bonuses” – a one-time cash payment made upon signing a contract, Saturnino said.Earlier this month, Italian energy company Eni SpA paid US$902 million to secure a controlling stake in Bloc 15.Total and Petrobras are part of that bloc’s consortium.Angola only recently began declaring the amount paid in signature bonuses after pressure from human rights groups and foreign governments for greater transparency.Rights groups have charged that the money is diverted to a corrupt elite.Angola is the second-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria with 1,3 million barrels a day.The Oil Ministry predicts daily output will rise to two million barrels a day by 2008.- Nampa-APCarlos Saturnino, a Sonangol director who headed the committee that assessed the bids, said Sinopec did not yet have the technical knowledge to lead exploration in deepwater fields.Sinopec is Asia’s largest refiner by capacity.Total is to head exploration in a deepwater field called Bloc 17.As lead operator, it is to have a 30 per cent stake in the field, with SSI taking 27,5 per cent and Sonangol holding 20 per cent, Saturnino said.In Bloc 18, Petrobras was granted a 30 per cent share, with SSI taking 40 per cent and Sonangol 20 per cent.Smaller local companies took the remaining stakes.Total is to pay Angola US$670 million and Petrobras US$310 million (N$2,05 billion) in “signature bonuses” – a one-time cash payment made upon signing a contract, Saturnino said.Earlier this month, Italian energy company Eni SpA paid US$902 million to secure a controlling stake in Bloc 15.Total and Petrobras are part of that bloc’s consortium.Angola only recently began declaring the amount paid in signature bonuses after pressure from human rights groups and foreign governments for greater transparency.Rights groups have charged that the money is diverted to a corrupt elite.Angola is the second-largest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa after Nigeria with 1,3 million barrels a day.The Oil Ministry predicts daily output will rise to two million barrels a day by 2008.- Nampa-AP