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afrol News, 1 May - Convinced there are significant offshore oil reserves in the Namibe Basin, Namibia's National Petroleum Corporation (Namcor) and its Angolan counterpart, Sonangol, have invited international oil companies and individuals to apply for exploration licenses. The Namibe Basin straddles the border of Angola and Namibia. Angola and Namibia conducted a joint study of the area and plan to jointly manage it, according to the Angolan government newsletter 'O Pensador'. Namcor and Sonangol recently held promotion seminars in the United States and England to discuss the hydrocarbon potential of the Namibe Basin. The UK-based seismic contractor WesternGeco presented geological, seismic and geochemical data showing the presence of source rocks, reservoirs and good maturity windows which are essential features of potential oil fields. The major oil companies, including BP, Eni, TotalFinaElf, Chevron, and Marathon, as well as the independents Tullow Oil, Ranger Oil and Fusion Oil, all attended the Namcor-Sonangol presentations, 'O Pensador' reports. A joint venture of US-based Vanco (88 percent), Namcor (9 percent) and a local black empowerment group Pamue (3 percent) holds the only exploration license in the Namibe Basin. Other companies that have expressed interest include Conoco and Nuevo Energy. Sources: Based on Angolan government sources
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