ALGERIA DETAILS TERMS FOR SECOND LICENSING ROUND

Algeria's Sonatrach has disclosed details of a second exploration licensing round at sessions in Houston and London.

Thirty-one blocks are offered covering more than 200,000 sq km in a round designed to license acreage near producing fields as well as frontier territory.

Mohamed Babaghayou, Sonatrach deputy general manager of exploration and research, spelled out new bidding procedures designed to improve on last year's first round.

"Experience has shown the industry is thirsty for information on Algeria," Babaghayou said. "We also learned that bidding procedures must take account of planning and budgeting requirements of oil companies."

SECOND ROUND PROCEDURES

Here are second round procedures:

• Companies buying data packages will have 4 months-June to September-to evaluate the data.

• In October, companies wishing to bid are required to submit a letter of intent to Sonatrach indicating chosen blocks.

• Blocks of interest to more than one company will enter a bidding round opening Dec. 1 and closing 6 months later.

• Direct negotiations will begin if only one company shows interest in a block.

• Sonatrach will make detailed presentations before the end of May 1994 about its legal and contractual requirements to each company applying for acreage.

Two companies are offering data packages: Integrated Exploration & Development Services Ltd., Tetbury, U.K., and TGS-Calibre Geophysical Co., Houston.

IEDS is marketing packages on Tindouf basin Blocks 301 through 308, 358, and 363 through 365, Dahar Depression Blocks 413 through 415b, Melrhir and Chotts basin Blocks 108 and 128b, Southern Dahar Depression Blocks 443b and 444, and Ghadames basin Blocks 210 and 235b (see map, OGJ, Nov. 9, 1992, p. 99).

TGS is marketing data on Blocks 319, 348, and 349 in District 8 and Blocks 103, 116, and 120 in District 9. These districts in western Algeria include the Bechar and Timimoum basins and the Atlas fold belt. TGS said several wells in the area had good shows of oil and gas.

Sonatrach hopes to raise drilling activity 7 to 55 wildcats/year by 1995 and 100 wildcats/year by the end of the century. This year, Sontrach intends to drill 27 new field wildcats on its own and 14 in association with foreign companies.

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