Guatemala takes 15 offers in bid round

Guatemala round: Government accepted 15 bids

AFP/SCANPIX

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Kathrine Schmidt

 18 February 2013 20:20 GMT

Guatemala has accepted 15 bids from nine companies interested in exploring for oil as the government seeks to boost declining crude production, the energy and mining ministry said on Monday.

The small Central American country announced plans last year to open up 795,859 hectares (1.97 million acres) of land to exploration, mostly in Peten, the country's northern jungle region, in hopes of boosting production to 51,000 barrels per day (bpd) by 2020, up from the 10,000 bpd in 2012, Reuters reported.

Oil output peaked in Guatemala in 1998 at 25,000 bpd.

"This is the best bidding process we have had in the last 15 years," Energy and Mining Minister Erik Archila told reporters according to the news wire.

The ministry received offers for six…

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