US-based
companies Hunt Oil and Noble Energy have serious interest in taking part
intenders for oil and gas exploration in two blocks in the Black Sea,
Bulgaria's ruling party GERB party said on Thursday.
Earlier this week,
GERB quoted senior officials of another two U.S. oil and gas companies -
Anadarko and ExxonMobil - as telling Bulgarian government officials in Houston,
Texas, they too are considering bidding in the two tenders. A Bulgarian
government delegation is in the U.S. for a series of meetings with prospective
U.S. investors in the two offshore blocks.
In late April Bulgaria's
energy ministry opened tenders for five-year exploration permits, with an option
for two two-year extensions, for blocks 1-14 Silistar and 1-22 Teres in the
continental shelf and the country's exclusive economic zone in the Black Sea.
The Silistar block covers an area of 6,893 sq km while the Teres block has an
area of 4,032 sq km.
Hunt Oil has drilling projects in Bulgaria's
northern neighbour Romania with a team of experts who are familiar with the
specifics of the Black Sea basin, and will most probably submit an offer for the
Teres and Silistar blocks, GERB said in a press release, quoting a senior
company official.
Noble Energy, which has operations in the
Mediterranean, too is interested in expanding its business to the Black Sea, the
company's regional manager Tiffany Hopkins said, as quoted by GERB.
On
Wednesday GERB quoted Anadarko's general manager of international negotiations,
Eric Fry, as saying the company plans to participate in the two
tenders.
U.S. oil and gas giant ExxonMobil, too, is examining the
possibility of taking part, the company's exploration manager Stacey Weltmer
told the Bulgarian officials a day earlier, as quoted by GERB.
The
deadline for submission of bids in the two tenders expires on September
21.
The Bulgarian government has said it expects that the tenders will
attract the interest of industry majors considering thatFrance's Total,
Austria's OMV and Spain's Repsol are already exploring the nearby Han Asparuh
block in the Black Sea.
Romanian media have reported that OMV Petromand
ExxonMobil have discovered a significantgas deposit in the nearby Neptun Block,
in Romanian territorial waters. The value of this discovery is estimated at
around 3.5 billion euro ($3.97 billion), according to business daily Ziarul
Financiar.