The Republic of Guinea has launched its first offshore licensing round. The licensing round was announced by the CEO of Office National du Petrole (ONAP), Diakaria Koulibaly, at the NOC assembly, in Paris, Offshore Energy Today reported.

The round will be open for six months from October 2017, with awards expected by October 2018. Companies will be able to submit bids on all open blocks, Globe News Wire informed.

Koulibaly said “This is an exciting time for The Republic of Guinea. The recent successes in the Northern MSGBC Basin have increased the industry interest in this relatively under explored region, and this chain of success will steadily and inevitably flow down south to us.”

The news of the licensing round announcement was first shared by the marine seismic data specialist TGS-Nopec, which on Monday said it had some 14,000 km of modern, high quality 2D data coverage over the blocks on offer.