Three oil companies bid for offshore licenses

Three oil companies have submitted bids to explore for oil in the coastal waters of Sierra Leone following a seismic survey of the area carried out in 2001, the government said.

The bids from Repsol of Spain, Oranto Petroleum of Nigeria and 8 Investments of the United States, were opened by Vice-President Solomon Berewa on May 30. Repsol and Oranto are both established players on the African oil and gas scene, but 8 investments is a small and relatively unknown player.

Bidding for the seven blocs covering 28,000 square km off the southern coast of Sierra Leone was supposed to have closed on April 30 after being open for one year. However, a senior government official said the process had been extended for an extra month in the hope of attracting a fourth bidder which ultimately failed to materialise.

The government's Oil Exploration Bid Evaluation Committee is expected to reach a decision on the three bids by June 15.

The US company Amoco - now part of BP - drilled for oil off Sierra Leone in the early 1980's but failed to find any commercial deposits. However, technological advances since then have made exploration drilling in deep water much cheaper, reviving hopes that Sierra Leone could become an oil producer.

The country, which was devasted by civil war from 1991 to 2001, currently relies on diamond exports as its main source of foreign exchange.