Bids for oil and gas exploration opens in three weeks

Minister of Mines and Minerals Development Maxwell Mwale says Zambia will open bidding for oil and gas exploration in three provinces within the next three weeks.

“Preliminary geological work which was done indicated the presence of oil and gas ... in the North Western, Western and Eastern provinces. We will soon be inviting would-be bidders to participate in petroleum exploration,” Mwale said in Cape Town during the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Africa.

Zambia wants to diversify its economy from mining, which accounts for 70 per cent of export earnings, mainly from copper. About 10,000 jobs have been lost in the mining industry as the global economic crisis pushed down commodity prices which led to the closure of some mines.

“With the petroleum industry there will be an enormous amount of jobs created, revenues to the state will be enormous,” Mwale said.

Zambia enacted a petroleum mining and exploration law last year in an effort to streamline the prospecting and mining of oil and gas.