It is understood that in January 2020, Block 1 and Block 6 were still available for bidders. The Blocks' availability was notified by the government in June 2019 and interested parties have to send their letters of Expression of Interest (EOI) for the blocks to:   The Secretary for Ministry of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining, P. O. Box 350, Lilongwe 3.  Email: patrick.matanda@mnrem.gov.mw  Attention: Mr Cassius Chiwambo Email: cassius.chiwambo@mnrem.gov.mw  Background Information  In 2010, the Government of Malawi proposed six blocks during a licensing round: three on Lake Malawi (Blocks 2, 3, and 4) and three outside the lake (Blocks 1, 5, and 6). The blocks were offered under Malawiâs 1983 Petroleum Exploration and Production Act.   Pacific Oil and Gas Ltd relinquished the Block 6 at the end of the summer 2018. The company was awarded the 8,390 sq km licence in October 2013. The block is located the Lower Zambezi and Nkondezi grabens within the Mozambique Basin.   Efora Energy Ltd, formerly SacOil Holdings Ltd (SacOil) relinquished its Block 1 in the Nyasa Graben. SacOil was awarded the 12,265 sq km licence in December 2012 and was the sole participant.   Countrywide gravity and magnetic data:  Exploration activity in Malawi has primarily been restricted to gravity and magnetic surveys during the late 1960s and early 1970s.  A low resolution geophysical survey was done between 1984 and 1985. The survey was carried out by Hunting Geology and Geophysics Limited with funding from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The survey was flown at 1 km line spacing, 10 km tie lines and 120 m ground clearance.  In early 2013, the Malawi Government contracted Canadaâs Sanders Geophysics to execute countrywide airborne geophysical survey, and the contractor worked with the British and Malawian Geological Survey Departments as quality control supervisors. The survey was carried out between September 2013 and August 2014. The survey was flown at 250 m line spacing, 5000 m tie lines and 60 m +/- 20 m ground clearance for Magnet and Radiometric while gravity, which covered selected blocks, was flown at 1000 m line spacing, 5000 m tie line and 60 m +/- 20 m ground clearance.   SacOil believed that the analysis of historical exploration results indicated the presence of various sub-basins within Block 1. To date no petroleum resource have been assessed or quantified over Malawi.
It is understood that in January 2020, Block 1 and Block 6 were still available for bidders. The Blocks' availability was notified by the government in June 2019 and interested parties have to send their letters of Expression of Interest (EOI) for the blocks 