Eleven international oil firms have expressed an interest in efforts to boost production at Bahrain's onshore Awali field, a report said.

"By the end of this month the bids will be received for the Bahrain onshore field development. Initially we said October 17 but it has been changed," Oil and Gas Affairs Minister Dr Abdulhussain Mirza told the Gulf Daily News, our sister newspaper.

He was speaking following the announcement that US firm Occidental and Thailand's PTT Exploration and Production have been awarded the right to explore for oil and gas off the shores of the country.

Some reports have suggested that new technologies could double the amount of oil produced at the Awali field from its current level of 35,000 barrels per day, and Dr Mirza - who heads the National Oil and Gas Authority (NOGA) - revealed strong interest among foreign firms.

"Eleven international oil companies have signed what we call technical evaluation agreements with Bapco - to evaluate, with the help of Bapco officials, ways to increase production from the field.

"There will be 11, and once they do their evaluation then they will decide to submit a bid or otherwise. The fact that they have signed the technical evaluation agreements shows they are serious," he said.

The latest round of bidding comes on the heels of the recently concluded tender process for four offshore exploration blocks comprising Bahrain's entire explorable acreage.

Three of the blocks have now been awarded - two to Occidental and one to PTT - but a fourth block, which contains the area to the north of Bahrain, did not attract interest.

"Block number one is not allocated so it remains with us and we can in future put it out for bidding again. It is in the north. Block three and four are in the south-east and block two is north-west," Dr Mirza said.

He said the firms involved in the bidding process had praised the way in which it was conducted.

"To ensure transparency and equal opportunity we listed the criteria by which the bids would be evaluated and compared on our website. Using that criteria - which was split between technical, financial and other factors - we asked a British consulting firm with the help of our own people to evaluate the bids.

"They made a recommendation that blocks three and four should go to Occidental and block two to PTT. The oil companies have expressed admiration for the way we have conducted the bidding process in such a transparent and very clear way," he said.

The third firm - Russia's state-owned Zarubezhneft - was unsuccessful in its bid.

The Tender Board's decision to award the blocks to the two foreign firms will now pass to parliament for approval. - TradeArabia News Service