1. Petroleum Licensing & Administration
About the Process
Petroleum Licensing and Administration core Process (PLACP)
Petroleum Licensing and Administration core Process (PLACP) is a section within the
Ministry of Mines (MoM) that oversees all activities related with petroleum operations in
the country. It is constituted of two main arms (branches)-one is Petroleum Licensing and
the other Contract Administration.
The Petroleum Licensing and Administration work activities emanate from amongst the
main objectives of the Ministry of Mines, which implicitly include:
• Advancement of petroleum exploration and development activities to enhance the overall
development of the country;
• Make petroleum operations be one of the major contributors to the national economy;
•Undertake exploration activities in almost all prospective areas to unearth natural
resources and make use of them to the benefit of the country and the people at large.
Major duties and responsibilities of Petroleum Licensing and Administration are to:
- organize and prepare bid documents for tendering exploration blocks and takes part in
the screening and evaluation of final bid documents;
- negotiate with applicant companies in accordance with The Model Petroleum
Production Sharing Agreement and Petroleum Operations and Income Tax
Proclamations ;
- perform promotional activities, by way of disseminating brochures, giving
presentations and exhibiting posters;

2. - monitor and inspect company (or companies) operations to ensure the activities of a
contractor are carried out in accordance with agreement signed by parties (i.e. MoM
and company);
- provide support to operators/Contractors by communicating with other government
institutions and offices;
- make sure that financial terms of signed agreements are timely fulfilled; these are
rentals, royalties, bonuses and other payments ;
- represent the Ministry at international and regional forums in petroleum –related
issues upon the consent of the Minister or the State Minister;
- keep all petroleum data in a secure repository and make them accessible to relevant
business partners, academia and staff engaged in research and development.
Current Petroleum Exploration and Development activities
A number of international and few local companies are currently undertaking petroleum
exploration in various parts of the country. Oil companies actively involved in the petroleum
exploration and development undertakings are: Africa Oil Ethiopia B.V. (Subsidiary of Africa
Oil Corp.), Calvalley Petroleum Inc., Epsilon Energy Ltd., Falcon Petroleum Ltd., Southwest
Energy, Tullow Oil, Pexco Exploration (east Africa) N.V. and Afar Exploration.
Several of these companies have accomplished quite remarkable job in fulfilling their
contractual obligations. Many of them have been engaged in acquiring geophysical data,
including airborne gravity and magnetic, and some have done 2D seismic surveys covering
large area, and have accomplished geological studies. Some unconventional geophysical
exploration methods such as passive seismic and Full Tensor Gravity have been applied by

3. different companies during their course of undertaking exploration in blocks where these
methods are thought to be valuable.
A company has also applied for a license to produce oil from oil shale and full operation
towards achieving this goal is due to start soon after signing of contractual agreement.
Calub and Hilala gas-condensate fields with estimated total reserve of 4 Tcf (reserve at
Calub field is 2.7 Tcf and at Hilala field 1.3 Tcf) are recently awarded to a company named
PetroTrans (Hong Kong-based Company) along with other blocks in the Ogaden Basin.
Negotiation is also underway to license Gambela block (Close to the petroliferous Southern
Sudanese basins) in western Ethiopia.
There is still expression of interest to embark on exploration in some of the remaining open
blocks in the potential Ogaden Basin. Sufficient information on the overall prospectivity of
the basin to search for oil and gas can be obtained from data available in our documentation
center. Available data on page 13 in the Brochure of Petroleum Potential of Ethoiopia…
All interested companies are welcome to apply for an open block shown in the License
areas.
Petroleum Licensing and Administration core Process (PLACP)
Ethiopia Expects Seven Offers for
Former Petronas Oil Blocks
By William Davison - May 17, 2011 9:49 AM GMT+0300
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Ethiopia‟s government expects seven foreign and domestic companies to bid for oil
and natural gas concessions in the restive Ogaden basin previously held by Petronas
Nasional Bhd, a government official said.
A tender for the concessions closes this week and the results are expected to be
announced by early June, Ketsela Tadesse, head of petroleum licensing and
administration in the Mines Ministry, said in an interview yesterday in Addis Ababa,
the capital. One of the eight blocks on offer has proven gas deposits of 2.7 trillion
cubic feet, according to Ketsela.
“We shortlisted the companies and they have taken bid documents,” Ketsela said.
“After evaluation, the results will be disclosed. We hope to finish in two or three
weeks.”
Petronas, based in Kuala Lumpur, sold the assets in October as part of what it said
was a “rationalization exercise.” In May 2010, British geologist Jason Read, who was
working for a subcontractor of the Malaysian company, was killed in an ambush in
the region. The rebel Ogaden National Liberation Front, which has been fighting for
self-determination in the area since 1984, denied responsibility for the attack.
In April 2007, the ONLF attacked an exploration site in the Ogaden operated by
China‟s Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau, killing nine Chinese workers and
65 Ethiopians.
Talks with Petronas about its exit were “amicable” and the state-owned company‟s
decision to leave Ethiopia had nothing to do with security concerns, Ketsela said.
„No Problems‟

5. “Companies are currently working in the area with no problems,” he said. “There is a
good relationship between them and the local people.”
On May 13, a World Food Programme worker was shot dead in the Ogaden region in
an attack the government blamed on the ONLF. One person was injured and two
workers are still missing after the attack, Judith Schuler, WFP‟s spokeswoman in
Ethiopia, said by phone from the capital yesterday.
The ONLF said in an e-mailed statement yesterday that government security forces
carried out the attack to cover up atrocities in the region.
“This is a government that has enshrined basic human rights in the constitution and
has been working tirelessly to implement them in every part of the country,”
Communications Minister Bereket Simon said by phone from Addis Ababa today. “So
I don‟t think these accusations from terrorists hold water.”
Companies currently prospecting for fossil fuels inAfrica‟s second-most populous
nation include Afar Exploration Co., based in Oklahoma; Ontario-based Epsilon
Energy Ltd.; Calgary-based Calvalley Petroleums Inc. (CVI/A); Denver-based Falcon
Oil& Gas Ltd. (FOLGF); Texas-based Pexco Inc.; SouthWest Energy (H.K.) Ltd.;
Vancouver-based Africa Oil Corp. (AOI); and London-registered Tullow Oil Inc.,
Ketsela said. Some of those companies are likely to submit bids for the former
Petronas blocks, he said.
Hong Kong-based SouthWest had announced on Oct. 6 it had taken over the
concessions before the government approved the deal. The tender is still “open” for
the company, Ketsela said.
To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa via Nairobi at
pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at
asguazzin@bloomberg.net

6. New drilling planned in Ethiopian concession
Published: Aug 12, 2012 by biniFiled under: Ethiopian NewsViews: 821 Tags: Ethiopian News, ETV News, Ethiopian
Concession
Global oil and gas exploration company Tullow
Oil Plc is to start drilling on the Ethiopian
concession it has in South Omo Valley, Southern
Regional State next January.
London-based Tullow has concession rights in
23 countries including three African counties,
Ghana, Kenya and Uganda. Drilling in the two neighbouring African countries has resulted in success with
1.1 billion barrels of oil discovered in Kenya in January.
Tullow has signed an agreement with Ethiopia‟s Ministry of Mines for exploration f the South Omo Block
through the Canada-based Africa Oil Plc.
It has already carried out scientific surveys on the Southern Omo bloc and is in the process of finalising its
seismic data of the area sub-contracted to the Chinese BGP Geo Service Plc.
While carrying out these tests, Tullow Oil Plc told Ethiopian officials of an oil reserve which is projected be
much larger than either Kenya or Uganda and are confident there will be a discovery of oil within a year.
Sinkinesh Ejegu, Mininster of Mines (MoM) said: “We cross our fingers and pray for better results.”
It will be the first drillings in the Southern Omo Valley which is located on the Great Rift Valley of East
Africa and is an area of interest for tourists because of its diversity of language and culture.

7. The Omo River runs through the valley before it joins Lake Turkana and the federal government is building
one of the largest dams in the country with a power generation capacity of 1870mw.
Last month, Tullow reported an excellent first half citing increased production, sustained high commodity
prices and the profit on the Uganda farm-down for its good results. Profit before tax rose by 48 percent.
Chief executive Aidan Heavey said: “Our exploration-led growth strategy continues to yield an exceptional
success ratio and Tullow has, with the discovery of oil onshore Kenya, opened up a fourth new basin
within five years.”
By Sheree Hanna..
Ethiopia
South Omo 29,465 50.00% Tullow Africa Oil, Agriterra