Twenty-nine companies pre-qualified as potential operators including ExxonMobil, BP, Total, Chevron, Eni and also Shell, which quit Angola recently.
Potential newcomers include Amerada Hess, Cepsa and Repsol YPF of Spain, Brazil's Petrobras and India's Oil&Natural Gas Corporation plus existing Angolan players including Devon, Kerr-McGee, Maersk, Marathon, Norsk Hydro, Occidental, Malaysia's Petronas and Statoil.
Smaller independents and juniors passing muster are Addax, Calgary-based Centurion Energy, Equator Exploration, Japan's Inpex, Lundin of Sweden, Portugal's Partex, Premier Oil, Roc Oil, Santos, Tullow Oil and Vaalco.
The
