The Dominican Republic opened the bidding process for the auction of 14 onshore and offshore previously identified oil blocks on 10 July 2019. As reported, licensing terms include a minimum investment of US$2 million for onshore blocks and US$4 million for offshore blocks.
The process will continue through 13 October. The auction will be held on 27 November when the companies will deliver the bids for the blocks and the winners will be announced. Once auctioned, the companies will sign seven to ten-year hydrocarbon exploration contracts with the Ministry of Mines & Energy and the President of the Republic and these will be sent to National Congress for approval.
Energy and Mines Minister Antonio Isa Conde spoke of the interest and optimism about the potential of the country in terms of oil and gas shown by the companies that attended the Hyatt Regency licensing oil round in Houston, Texas. “We are receiving very good signals,” said the official, who heads the Ministry of Mines & Energy delegation at the Houston round.
Some 26 companies linked to exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons participated in the first round sponsored by the Ministry of Energy and Mines. As reported, the companies that attended the opening of the round were Anadarko, Apache, CGG, Enersep, ExxonMobil, Global Integral Supply, GTC, IHS Markit, Ion Geophysical, Mertz Energy, Midland Oil Tools Intl, Noble Energy and PGS, from the United States; Repsol, from Spain; Wartsila, from Finland; WesternGeco, Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy, from the United Kingdom; CNOOC, from China; Eni, from Italy; Geopark and Trans-Globe, from Canada; Transocean, from Switzerland; Total, from France; Shell, from Holland; and Sertecpec, from Ecuador.
There are 14 blocks on offer. Six are located in the central Cibao Basin; three in the southwestern Enriquillo Basin; one in the southcentral Azua Basin; and four in the southeastern San Pedro de Macorís Basin. As reported, bidders can also propose their own geographic blocks in the next two months if they do not like the original areas.
Since 2015 the global firm Schlumberger has carried out a process of analysis of seismic data in the Dominican Republic, to determine possible hydrocarbon exploration blocks. The data is in the National Hydrocarbon Database that was uploaded to the Internet in 2016.
In its coverage of the event, Reuters reported that the licensing round comes at a time when Brazil, Guyana and Mexico have already attracted billions of dollars in oil investment. Reuters reported that Cuba and Panama have also taken steps to lure producers with new areas and by making seismic exploration data available.
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Ministry of Mines & Energy
Reuters
11 July 2019