courtesy Total

The list of companies pre-qualified to operate offshore and onshore licenses in Angola’s upcoming licensing round has grown to 43, it was learned Tuesday.

Interoil of Norway is the latest, and the company has already opened an office in the Angolan capital Luanda and hired Chevron’s former Brazil country manager Antonio Pedro Duarte Paulo.

Angola’s state champion Sonangol has put 10 blocks on the block for the March 13 application deadline. In a bid to boost revenues quickly, Sonangol has opened all the available licenses to production-sharing agreements.

The Angolan offshore is already thick with international oil companies, including another 38 pre-qualified licensees, or those with the wherewithal to be reliable field partners.

Last year saw discovery after discovery in the profilic deepwater blocks, and six deep and “ultra-deep” blocks are on offer this year: deepwater Blocks 19, 20 and 21 and ultra-deep Blocks 46, 47 and 48.

Onshore, Block Centro (Cabinda Onshore); Blocks KON11 and KON 12 (Kwanza Onshore) and Block 9 (Shallow water) have thickened the draw of oil companies to West Africa.