Zambia, Africa’s largest copper producer, will issue oil and gas exploration licences to seven foreign and local companies by October after approving new licencing fees, Mines Minister Maxwell Mwale said on Thursday.
Mwale said only two local companies bid for four of the 23 exploration blocks Zambia advertised in December 2009 in six of the southern African country’s nine provinces. The bids were yet to be evaluated by the petroleum technical committee.
“The petroleum committee will licence the companies that were awarded blocks for them to commence exploration before the end of the dry season this year,” Mwale said in a statement.
Mwale said non-oil producing Zambia had faced difficulties to attract investment in the sector, but hoped confidence would build once the exploration companies started getting positive results expected to trigger an influx of petroleum exploration companies to invest in the country.
Mwale said the government was also finalising new petroleum regulations for the effective monitoring and regulation of the petroleum sector but did not give further details.
Britain’s GP Petroleum and Petrodel Resources, Glint Energy of the United States and Exile Resources of Canada were chosen in November along with Zambian firms Majetu, Barotse Petroleum Company and Chat Milling Company Ltd to explore for oil and gas.
Zambia, which relies on copper mining for most of its foreign exchange earnings has said soil samples sent to European laboratories have shown good traces of oil, particularly in areas bordering oil-producing Angola.
(Reuters)
Good progress. We need to diversify our industry a lot more and stop this constant reliance on Copper!!
Zambia is the largest producer of copper in Africa but economically run down.
Be careful.Think Nigeria-no diversification as petrodollars has led to a false sense of satisfaction.Oil is good but zambia has yet to fully exploit its hydropower for export,tourism and immense agri-potential.
Zambia is the largest producer of copper in Africa – what is there to show for it?
Largest producer of Copper! So why are we not dev eloped yet China is developing as I am wasting my time typing. Developing from our resources. Nonsense!
Good but ensure this benefits Zambians! Obvious aba ba mambala will start eating and making stupid deals – at the end of the day this may not benefit us…………… imwe ba mambala
a fool will die of thirst in the midst of water. this oil thing is meaningless for our pipo. It will just be another nigeria he he he!:”>
stop troubling yourself there is no oil in zambia..FULL STOP.
What does it cost a man to have the whole resources aand yet no develop. Zambia is a wierd case in point. The largest producer of copper and yet lebeled one of the poorest. Rat Race oil is in Zambia ao are diamonds, urenium, platinum and gold. But we dont own resources on this land. Mind u it very hard for a Zambia investor to obtain an investment licence than for a Mafiaso or Alqaido element. The fact will remain, for as long as Zambians will not own their resources will for ever be poor. Let the not lie to us about development when we cant feed, how/