Angola's Sonangol to take bids for 10 onshore oil blocks

LUANDA (Reuters) - Angolan state oil firm Sonangol said it plans to hold bidding this year and next for licences to explore for oil onshore in 10 new blocks in the Kwanza and Lower Congo basins. Angola, Africa's second-biggest oil producer after Nigeria, wants to increase its crude output to 2 million barrels per day (mbpd) in 2015 from around 1.7 mbpd now. Most of its crude currently comes from offshore fields. "The bidding process is designed to develop Angola's onshore geological potential," Sonangol said on Monday. Sonangol in February announced that it would seek bids for 15 blocks - 10 in the Kwanza basin and five in the Lower Congo basin, both in northern Angola. Instead, its latest statement said it would take bids for seven blocks in the Kwanza and three in the Lower Congo. The company said it would soon announce the start of the pre-qualifying process on its website and through state-owned newspaper Jornal de Angola and would then launch the bidding round. Angola's first oil discoveries were made onshore in the 1950s. Oil revenues represent over 95 percent of its export income and around 45 percent of its gross domestic product.