The Canada-Newfoundland Offshore Petroleum Board has announced details of the 2001 Call for Bids in the Newfoundland offshore area. The Call will comprise fourteen parcels (refer to attached plats), three located in the Flemish Pass Area (Parcels 1 to 3), four in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin (Parcels 4 to 7), three in the South Whale Basin (Parcels 8 to 10) and four adjacent to the Newfoundland west coast area (Parcels 11 to 14). These parcels comprise a total of 1,969,664 hectares.

Interested parties will have until 4:00 p.m. on November 20, 2001 to submit sealed bids. The sole criterion for selecting winning bids will be the total amount of money the bidder commits to spend on exploration of the respective parcel during the first 5 years. The minimum bid for the west coast parcels is $250 thousand. The minimum bid for all other parcels is $1 million. Subject to Ministerial approval, successful bidders will be issued an exploration licence for a term of 9 years, during the first 5 years of which, a well must be spudded to validate the licence for the full 9-year term.

For a complete copy of the text of this Call for Bids visit the C-NOPB website at: www.cnopb.nfnet.com

SOURCE:
Stephen Harris
Legal Counsel
(709) 778-1408

Edsel Bonnell
Public Information Coordinator
(709) 778-1408
(709) 834-9136 after hours