Dominican Republic in first oil licensing round. Offers 14 blocks

The Dominican Republic on Wednesday launched its first ever oil and gas licensing round, offering 14 offshore and onshore blocks up for bidding to interested oil companies.

The blocks on offer are located in the Cibao, Enriquillo, Azua, and San Pedro basins of the Carribean island nation.

Energy intelligence group Wood Mackenzie is assisting the country’s Ministry of Energy and Mines with the evaluation, planning, and execution of the licensing round.

Juan Agudelo, director of upstream consulting at Wood Mackenzie, said the exploration performed in the country since the early 20th century indicated the presence of a working petroleum system.

He said: “Blocks will be awarded based on work commitments for the first exploration phase. The Dominican Republic is incentivizing the acquisition of geological and geophysical data, while providing flexibility to explorers on how to conduct activities during the contract exploration phase. Operators will have between eight to 10 years to explore and must drill one well.”

“This round aims to boost exploration of oil and gas in the Dominican Republic. The country currently doesn’t have any operators searching for new fields. If the rounds attracts explorers, it will bring investment and help to de-risk the oil and gas potential in the country,” Agudelo said.

According to the Ministry of Energy and Mines, interested companies need to send documentation by October 13 for prequalification, after which the eligible oil firms will take part in the auction.

The ministry on Wednesday hosted a launching ceremony in Houston, and according to the ministry, the companies that attended the opening of the round were, among others, Anadarko, Apache, ExxonMobil, Noble Energy, CNOOC, Shell, Repsol, seismic players CGG, PGS, Westerngeco, and offshore driller Transocean

Offshore Energy Today Staff

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