Last Updated 13 years ago by Kenya Engineer
Neighboring islands, Seychelles and Mauritius have joined the list of those exploring the black gold. The two have announced plans to jointly explore for petroleum in an area in the Indian Ocean that they both own.
“Mauritius and Seychelles are still working on the legal framework that will dictate oil exploration and exploitation in the Joint Management Area (JMA). No deadline has been set for the opening of the area.”,said Eddy Belle, chief executive officer of Seychelles upstream regulator PetroSeychelles speaking to Reuters.
The two island nations received permission in 2012 from the United Nations for an extended continental shelf off their respective coasts, estimated to measure 396,000 square km. The granting of the joint exploration rights was meant to forestall any future maritime territorial disputes.
In June, Seychelles invited oil and gas companies to bid for exploration blocks, bringing to an end a two-year moratorium, and introducing new rules for bidders after completing a review of laws regulating the sector.
So far, Afren Plc and Australia’s WHL Energy are the only companies holding exploration licenses in Seychelles, an archipelago of islands northeast of Madagascar.
Extracts from Reuters
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