Norwegian oil and gas producer Statoil has found a partner to take a 25 percent stake in its two Mozambican blocks where drilling will start next year, an official said on Wednesday.

It did not name the partner.

“We will announce this very shortly, I hope next week. We have signed and are waiting for the government to approve,” Mogens Ramm, Statoil’s VP for exploration told Reuters on the sidelines of an energy and mining conference in Maputo.

Statoil is the operator of Blocks 2 and 5 in the northern Rovuma basin, where U.

S. oil and gas producer Anadarko Petroleum and Italy’s Eni have recently made huge gas discoveries, boosting interest in the southern African country.

Mozambique estimates energy firms will spend $50 billion over the next decade to develop its liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.

Source: Reuters