Mozambique to spend $ 1.4 bn on oil and gas exploration

Mozambique's national hydrocarbons company, Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos, will spend $ 1.4 bn on oil and gas exploration through 2011, said Nelson Ocuane, the company's chief executive officer.
The bulk of the funds will come from foreign donors, Ocuane said. At least 14 foreign companies are searching for gas and oil in the southern African nation, he added.

Mozambique's first gas discovery was registered in 1962, when Gulf Oil Corp. drilled a successful well in the Pande field in the southern Inhambane province. Investment in the country's oil and gas industry was stopped during a 17-year civil war that ended in 1992.
Last year, $ 467.3 mm was spent on exploration, with the figure projected to rise to $ 560 mm this year, Ocuane said.