Petronas, together with Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos de Mocambique (ENH), has been awarded the exploration and production contract for the offshore Zambezi Delta Block by the government of Mozambique. The EPC for the block was signed between Petronas, ENH as partners and Mozambique’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy. Under the terms of the EPC, Petronas through its wholly owned subsidiary Petronas Carigali Mozambique E&P Ltd, will hold an 85% interest in the block while ENH will own the remaining 15% interest. Petronas Carigali Mozambique has been designated the operator for the block. In the event of commercial discovery ENH has the option to increase its participation up to 20% during the development and production phase of the block. The Zambezi Delta Block, covering an area of approximately 29,054 sq km, is located offshore the Zambezi Delta in water depth of up to 2000 metres. The basin within which the block is located has proven hydrocarbon system with discoveries of several onshore gas fields. The contractor will purchase technical data available on the contract area, re-process a minimum of 1000 line-km seismic data and acquire and process the new 2D or 3D seismic data. In the initial three years, the contractor is committed to spend USD 10 million for the block’s geological and geophysical evaluation. The award of the contract for the block marks Petronas’ first entry into Mozambique’s upstream business as well as in the East Africa region.
