The Resources Ministry has issued an international call for applications for oil exploration licences in areas south and west of Malta.

The government is offering exploration licences and exploration and production licences in Area 1, Area 4, Area 5 and Area 6. 

The offer closes in December.

Mediterranean Oil & Gas and Heritage Oil currently holds an oil exploration licences in Maltese waters.

Oil exploration rights in the Mediterranean have been contested between Malta, Italy and Libya.

In March 2008, Libya wrote to Heritage Oil warning the company not to do any drilling in Area 7 ( on the Medina Bank), which the North African state claimed as its own. Heritage Oil was due to start operations in Area 7 and Area 2 ( which lies to the north of the disputed zone), where it was granted a licence by the Maltese government to explore.

Earlier this year, Malta wrote a formal letter of complaint to Italy after the Italian government offered oil exploration licences around the islands of Pantelleria, Linosa and Lampedusa.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.