Nine Companies Bid For Blocks In Tanzania's Tanganyika Rift Basin-TPDC

At least nine international companies have submitted bids for oil and gas exploration blocks in Tanzania's Tanganyika rift basin and interest in the country's hydrocarbon sector continues to rise, the state-run Tanzania Petroleum Development Corp. said Saturday.

TPDC said in a statement Saturday that it is evaluating bids for the companies which include France's oil major, Total SA (TOT, FP.FR), Canada-based Fort Calgary Resources Ltd., UK's Orphir Energy PLC, and New Age Exploration Ltd. (NAE.AU) and Swala Energy, both of Australia.

The bidding round closed Tuesday and the TPDC is expected to complete the evaluation of the bids and make recommendations to government by Sept. 7.

The Lake Tanganyika rift basin is part of the western arm of the East African rift valley, where at least a billion barrels of oil have been discovered in neighboring Uganda.

TPDC said other companies that submitted bids for the Tanganyika blocks include Australia's Beach Energy Ltd. (BCHEY, BPT.AU), and U.S.-based firms Kosmos Energy Ltd. (KOS) and ERHC Energy Inc. (ERHE). The country of another bidder, Adamantine Ltd., was not disclosed.

Spurred by oil discoveries in Uganda as well as gas discoveries off the Tanzanian coast, interest in the country's hydro carbon sector has been on the rise. Tanzania is expected to hold a separate deep-offshore bidding round for at least 13 blocks off its coastline next year.

The bidding round, initially slated for April 12 was postponed to give more time for the company to prepare for the operation and to finish block demarcations. It is expected to include 13 blocks sitting between 1,200 meters and 3,500 meters of water depth.

Currently, Tanzania has licensed 12 deepwater blocks and recent exploration works have encountered at least 7.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. The country is yet to discover commercial oil reserves.

Exploration companies already licensed in Tanzania include Royal Dutch Shell PLC's (RDSA, RDSB, RDSA.LN, RDSB.LN) local unit, Shell International, as well as Orca Exploration Group Inc. (ORC.A.V, ORC.B.V), Dominion Gas and Oil Ltd., Tullow Oil PLC (TUWOY, TLW.LN) and Tower Resources PLC (TRP.LN).

-By Nicholas Bariyo, contributing to Dow Jones Newswires; 256-75-2624615 [e-mail]