A joint bid between Lukoil and Eni for the rights to two of Congo's offshore energy blocks has moved forward, but has not yet completed, Interfax reported on Friday, citing a Lukoil executive and correcting previous agency reports that the contract had already been awarded.
Lukoil said the Congo government had accepted an initial tender bid for the Marine 24 and Marine 31 blocks in the joint bid with Eni, with the Lukoil-Eni proposal being the only one on the table, Interfax reported.
Lukoil was cited as saying it was still discussing the commercial terms of the proposal.
A spokesman for Eni told Reuters that no licence has yet been awarded to the Italian energy group and its partners. The bid was held in 2018 and suspended in 2020 and has not yet been completed, the spokesman said.
The stake of the joint bidder cannot be disclosed but it is below 33%, in line with the applicable sanctions regime, he added.
(Reuters - Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Gavin Jones and Rosalba O'Brien)
