Liberia appears to be nearing closer to sealing the lease of two controversial oil blocks. Negotiations for oil blocks 6 and 7 previously awarded to the Hong Kong Tongtai Petroleum International Corporation Limited has reportedly been concluded with Kosmos Energy, the National Oil Company of Liberia (NOCAL) has announced according to AllAfrica.

The Production Sharing Contract (PSC) is currently awaiting review and approval by the National Legislature of Liberia.

In a statement last  Friday, NOCAL said Kosmos Energy, participated in the 2014 bid round with the assistance of TGS Nopec and Ernst and Young (EY). The negotiated PSC reflects terms that were approved by the Hydrocarbon Technical Committee (HTC) of Liberia.

Kosmos’ selection, according to NOCAL, was based on evidence of its strong financial, technical, health and safety, environmental and security credentials. “The company is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. It has a market capitalization of approximately b and a strong balance sheet with .

9b, in liquidity,” NOCAL said.

A neighboring example of this capability is the 2007 discovery of the Jubilee Field in Ghana and the unprecedented production of oil within 42 months.

Despite NOCAL’s confidence in Kosmos, the company, based out of Dallas, Texas, was once investigated by US authorities for alleged corruption in Ghana in 2010, although the investigation was finally dropped later that year, Front Page reported.