Offshore staff
(Africa) - Local sources report that Madagascar will auction 96 offshore plots of 2,000 sq km each for oil exploration from April until September.
Companies involved include ExxonMobil Corp., Vanco, Norsk Hydro, Vuna Energy Ltd. from Mauritius, and China's Sino Union Petroleum and Chemical.
Exploration has been done on the west coast of Madagascar over the last 40 years, but no viable deposits have been found.
02/10/06