Yemen Allows 18 Oil Firms To Bid For 20 Blocks

Yemen has allowed 18 international oil firms to bid for 20 onshore and offshore blocks in the sixth auction issued by the Oil Ministry, the state news agency Saba said on Sunday.

Saba quoted Ahmed Dares, Yemen's oil minister, as saying that 45 foreign firms had
presented applications to bid for the blocks, of which nine are onshore and 11 offshore.

Of the 45, only 18 had qualified to bid.

The auction aims to increase Yemen's oil and gas output through foreign investment, Dares was quoted as saying.

The 18 firms include Hunt Oil and Gas, Norway's, Circle Oil, Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (Kufpec), Pakistan Oilfields and Dana Gas.

The list also includes France's Total, the Austrian oil and gas group OMV, UAE-based Crescent Petroleum, and Pakistan Petroleum.

The qualified firms will now review the technical information available about the 20 blocks, the minister said.

Copyright, Reuters, 2013.