China’s Ministry of Land and Resources (MLR) has received 152 bids for 19 of the 20 shale gas blocks put up for bid in September during the first licensing round open to foreign companies.
The Ministry said 83 companies had qualified to participate. It said that each submitted bid will be evaluated and that winning bids will be announced soon.
Blocks on offer included five in Guizhou, three in Chongqing, five in Hunan, two in Hubei and in Henan, and one each in Jiangxi, Anhui, and Zhejiang. They represented a total of 20,000 sq km. Each of the blocks had to receive a minimum of three bids to be awarded, which all but one did.
Bidding companies were required to be registered in China with a minimum capital of $47million and had to already hold oil and/or gas licences. The winners will be granted three-year exploration permits and must commence exploration operations within six months of the award.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Chevron has acquired half-ownership of the Lithuanian company Investicijos to launch exploration and development operations in the country.
The US super-major said that it intends to begin oil and gas exploration in Lithuania in the coming months, but provided no further details.
Investicijos has an oil exploration and production licence in the Rietavas area of Lithuania that reportedly holds up to 8.5million bbl of reserves. Owned in partnership with Odin Energi and Tethys Oil, it is expected to be a launching platform for Chevron to engage in shale gas exploration.
According to Lithuanian sources, Chevron obtained with its acquisition agreement, the option to buy the remaining shares of Investicijos in the future. It is expected to invest around $187.6million in the upcoming exploration activities.
Chevron currently has an active shale exploration programme in Poland.